1865 Italian general election

The Historical Right was led by the former Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Alfonso Ferrero La Marmora, a long-time general who fought during the Italian unification.

On the other hand, the bloc of the Historical Left was led by Urbano Rattazzi, a liberal politician who was between the founders of the Italian left-wing parliamentary group.

In opposition to the two main blocs there were a third party known as The Extreme, a far-left coalition, under the leadership of Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian revolutionary and a key figure of the Unification.

On 22 and 29 October, only 504,263 men of a total population of around 23 million were entitled to vote.[2] Right-wing candidates emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament with around 41% of the 443 seats.[3] They were largely aristocrats representing rentiers from the north of the country, and held moderate political views including loyalty to the crown and low government spending;[4] the general La Marmora was appointed Prime Minister by the king Victor Emmanuel II.