1885 United Kingdom general election

none May 2014 May 2014 1885 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland parliamentary no 1880 United Kingdom general election 1880 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1880 1886 United Kingdom general election 1886 All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885 1885 11 24 1885 12 18 yes William Ewart Gladstone, 1892 (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 William Gladstone April 1880 Liberal Party (UK) Midlothian 352 seats, 54.7% 319speaker 33 2,071,868 47.7% 7.0 pp Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Marquess of Salisbury April 1881 Conservative Party (UK) House of Lords 237 seats, 42.5% 247 10 1,869,560 43.0% 0.5 pp Charles Stewart Parnell - Brady-Handy.jpg 130 120 160 0 0 Charles Stewart Parnell 17 October 1882 Irish Parliamentary Party Cork City 63 seats, 2.8% 86 23 299,178 6.9% 4.1 pp Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Marquess of Salisbury Conservative Party (UK) William Gladstone Liberal Party (UK) 300px Results by constituency 300px Results by country 4,347,98481.2% File:1885 UK GE Composition diagram.svg Diagram displaying the composition of the House of Commons following the general election The 1885 United Kingdom general election was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885. The first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats, it saw the Liberals lose their majority. The election came about due to the resignation of the Liberal Government and request for a dissolution after a defeat in the House of Commons on an amendment to the Finance Bill by the Liberal Party. The Marquess of Salisbury formed subsequently a minority Conservative Government but within five months he requested a dissolution.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 164 0333197348 1976 The election saw the Liberals, led by William Gladstone, win the most seats, but not an overall majority, so a minority government was necessary. The Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between the Liberals and the Conservatives who sat with a large number of allied Unionist MPs (their name reflecting their support for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland). The pressure of minority government status exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule. That led to a Liberal split that caused another general election the following year. The 1885 election saw the first socialist party participate, with the Social Democratic Federation, led by H. M. Hyndman, standing three candidates. None were elected. none 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 Electoral system All constituencies contested under the first past the post electoral system. It was the first general election to be held after enactment of the Representation of the People Act 1884, known also as the Third Reform Act.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 173 0333197348 1976 This was also accompanied with the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. The former Act brought about an extension of the franchise and voting rights which had already existed in towns to rural areas of the United Kingdom, massively expanding the size of the electorate from 3,040,050 to 5,708,030 across the country.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 87 0333197348 1976 Together with the latter Act, it brought about the general use of single-member constituencies under first-past-the-post voting and increased the general distribution of more rural constituencies amongst the counties. As part of the general re-distribution, the number of Welsh seats from the 652 used between 1832 to 1880, to 670 seats. Although there were 670 seats, there were several multi-member constituencies (with at most two members each) in areas in England and one in Wales. This arrangement would last until the reformes before the 1918 general election.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 173 0333197348 1976British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 20 2006 It was also the first election following the passing of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883. This Act criminalised attempts to bribe voters and standardised the amount that could be spent on election expenses.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 173 0333197348 1976 Results center|300px UK General Election 1885 Liberal Party (UK) 575 319speaker The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons, Arthur Peel −33 2,071,868 47.65 47.61 −7.3 yes 6,894 Conservative Party (UK) 597 247 +10 1,869,560 43.00 36.87 +0.9 8,182 Irish Parliamentary Party 91 86 +23 299,178 6.88 12.84 +4.0 3,612 Independent Liberal 35 11 +11 55,652 1.28 1.64 N/A 5,059 Crofters Party 6 4 +4 16,551 0.38 0.60 N/A 4,138 Independent Conservative 8 2 +2 12,599 0.29 0.30 N/A 6,300 Liberal-Labour (UK) 4 1 +1 8,232 0.19 0.15 N/A 8,232 Independent (politician) 6 0 0 6,570 0.15 0 N/A N/A Independent Nationalist 2 0 0 2,889 0.07 0 N/A N/A Scottish Land Restoration 5 0 0 2,359 0.05 0 N/A N/A Irish Loyalist 6 0 0 1,869 0.04 0 N/A N/A Social Democratic Federation 3 0 0 657 0.02 0 N/A N/A |} Total votes cast: 4,347,984.All parties shown. Electorate: 5,708,030 (5,429,708 in contested seats)Turnout: 81.2%https://web.archive.org/web/20120130011015/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html 2012-01-30 http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html General Election Results 1885-1979 Voting summary Popular vote #ddd 600px 380px Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 47.65 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 43.00 Irish Parliamentary Irish Parliamentary Party 6.88 Independent Liberal Independent Liberal 1.28 Crofters Crofters Party 0.38 Independent Conservative Independent Conservative 0.29 Lib-Lab Lib-Lab 0.19 Independent Independent 0.15 Others #777777 0.18 Seats summary Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 380px Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 47.61 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 36.87 Irish Parliamentary Irish Parliamentary Party 12.84 Independent Liberal Independent Liberal 1.64 Crofters Crofters Party 0.60 Independent Conservative Independent Conservative 0.30 Lib-Lab Liberal-Labour (UK) 0.15 See also List of MPs elected in the 1885 United Kingdom general election List of MPs for constituencies in Wales (1885–1886) Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918 Representation of the People Act 1884 Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 1885 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1885 United Kingdom general election in Ireland 1885 United Kingdom general election in Wales Hawarden Kite, Gladstone announces for Home Rule and wins over the Irish Notes References F. W. S. Craig F. W. S. Craig British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987 1989 Dartmouth Gower 0900178302 British Electoral Facts 1832–1999 Colin Rallings Colin Rallings Michael Thrasher Michael Thrasher Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000 Further reading Roberts, Matthew. "Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England.' Cultural & Social History (2013) 10#3 pp 369–395, covers 1860 to 1890. Walker Brian The 1885 and 1886 General Elections in Ireland History Ireland 13 36–40 6 2005 27725365 External links Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 https://web.archive.org/web/20120130011015/http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html 30 January 2012 Category:1885 elections in the United Kingdom 1885 General election Category:November 1885 in the United Kingdom Category:December 1885 in the United Kingdom Category:Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Category:William Ewart Gladstone