1874 Italian general election

none Kingdom of Italy legislative 1870 Italian general election 1870 1876 Italian general election 1876 All 508 seats in the Chamber of Deputies255 seats needed for a majority 8 November 1874 (first round)15 November 1874 (second round) Marco Minghetti.jpg Marco Minghetti Legnago Historical Right 276 43 Agostino Depretis.jpg Agostino Depretis Stradella Historical Left 232 37 1874 Italian general election map.svg Results by electoral college Prime Minister Elected Prime Minister Marco Minghetti Marco Minghetti Historical Right Historical Right General elections were held in Italy on 8 November, with a second round of voting on 15 November.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1047 978-3-8329-5609-7 They were a snap election, called by Prime Minister Marco Minghetti to strengthen his majority. Only 571,939 men of a total population of around 28 million were entitled to vote.Nohlen & Stöver, p1049 Right-wing candidates emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament with around 48% of the seats in Parliament.Nohlen & Stöver, p1082 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.Nohlen & Stöver, p1028 This was the last election in which the Historical Right faction emerged as the largest. Campaign Prime Minister Marco Minghetti and his influent Minister of the Treasury Quintino Sella were involved into an ambitious program of budget which needed a strong majority, for which they tried to oblige the Independents to choose their side, beginning to build a two-party system as in the United Kingdom.La Stampa, Thursday, 5 November 1874 However, in the Italian non-partisan political system, hugely affected by localism and corruption, their bet was equivalent to an all-in that afterwards they lost.La Stampa, Sunday, 8 November 1874 The election did not give to Minghetti the advantage he was hoping, especially for the high support to the opposition in Southern Italy.La Stampa, Monday, 16 November 1974 His government survived, but the bipolarisation of the Parliament he had imposed, strengthened the Historical Left so that it could take the leadership of the country. Two years later, MPs from Tuscany became dissatisfied with the government after it refused to intervene in the financial problems of Florence. The government was defeated on a vote on nationalising railways on 18 March 1876 and was forced to resign.Nohlen & Stöver, p1029 As a result, Agostino Depretis, leader of the left-wing bloc, became Prime Minister, with 414 of the 508 MPs supporting the government. Early elections were held in November. Parties and leaders PartyIdeologyLeader Historical Right Conservatism Marco Minghetti Historical Left Liberalism Agostino Depretis Results File:Italian Parliament 1874.svg Historical Right 276 +43 Historical Left 232 +37 306903 11614 0 571939 Nohlen & Stöver References Category:General elections in Italy General Italy