1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland

The 1859 British general election in Ireland produced the last overall victory for the Conservatives in Ireland. They won a majority of seats on the island despite the Liberals receiving over 60% of the vote; this was partly due to a disproportionately large number of Conservative candidates standing unopposed. The franchise was restricted to the middle and upper classes.

Main article: 1859 United Kingdom general election
28 April – 18 May 1859 (1859-04-28 – 1859-05-18)
105 of the 670 seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party
 
Leader Earl of Derby Viscount Palmerston
Party Conservative Whig
Leader since July 1846 6 February 1855
Leader's seat House of Lords Tiverton
Seats before 42 48
Seats won 55 50
Seat change 11 2
Popular vote 35,258 57,409
Percentage 38.9% 61.1%
Swing 4.7% 13.3%
Results of the 1859 election in Ireland

Electoral reform in subsequent decades saw something of a rise in the Tory vote in Ireland accompanied by a diminution in the number of seats the party won. This was again due in some degree to the relative numbers of candidates standing unopposed for the two parties.

Results

See Ref[1]

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Conservative 67 36 53 11 35,258 38.9 4.7
Whigs 73 26 50 2 57,409 61.1 13.3
Total 140 62 103 92,667 100
Popular vote
Whigs
 
 61.95%
Irish Conservative
 
 38.05%
Parliamentary seats
Irish Conservative
 
 51.46%
Whigs
 
 48.54%

University constituencies
General Election 1859: University of Dublin
(2 seats)
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Anthony Lefroy unopposed unopposed
Conservative Rt Hon. James Whiteside unopposed unopposed
Conservative hold Swing
Conservative hold Swing

See also

References
  1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. British Electoral Facts: 1832–2012. p. 8.


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