1857 United Kingdom general election

none August 2024 May 2014 1857 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland parliamentary no 1852 United Kingdom general election 1852 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1852 1859 United Kingdom general election 1859 716,552 All 654 seats in the House of Commons 328 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1857 1857 3 27 1857 4 24 yes 160x160px Viscount Palmerston 6 February 1855 Whigs (British political party) Tiverton 324 seats, 57.9% 377speaker 53 464,127 64.8%uncontested Several country and university seats held by Conservatives were uncontested, and many urban multi-member constituencies that tended to vote Liberal had multiple candidates, so this is an misleading figure. Therefore, national swing is not applicable to elections in this era. 6.9 pp 160x160px Earl of Derby July 1846 Conservative Party (UK) House of Lords 330 seats, 41.9% 264Including Peelites. 66 239,712 33.5%uncontested 8.4 pp 1857_UK_general_election_map.svg ColoursApril 2025 denote the winning party—as shown in Results Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Viscount Palmerston Whigs (British political party) Viscount Palmerston Whigs (British political party) File:Results of the 1857 UK General Election.svg Composition of the House of Commons after the election The 1857 United Kingdom general election was held between 27 March 1857 to 24 April 1857, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, won a majority in the House of Commons as the Conservative vote fell significantly. The election had been provoked by a vote of censure in Palmerston's government over his approach to the Arrow affair which led to the Second Opium War. There is no separate tally of votes or seats for the Peelites. They did not contest elections as an organised party but more as independent Free trade Conservatives with varying degrees of distance from the two main parties. According to A. J. P. Taylor: The general election of 1857 is unique in our history: the only election ever conducted as a simple plebiscite in favour of an individual. Even the "coupon" election of 1918 claimed to be more than a plebiscite for Lloyd George; even Disraeli and Gladstone offered a clash of policies as well as of personalities. In 1857 there was no issue before the electorate except whether Palmerston should be Prime Minister; and no one could pretend that Palmerston had any policy except to be himself.A. J. P. Taylor, "Lord Palmerston," History Today (1951) 1#7 pp 35-41 at p. 38 online none 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 Results center|300px UK General Election 1857 Whigs (British political party) 507 377speaker The seat and vote count figures for the Whigs given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons +53 464,127 64.77 57.65 +7.0 yes 1,231 Conservative Party (UK) 351 264 −66 239,712 33.45 40.37 −7.1 908 Independent Irish Party 13 12,099 1.69 1.99 N/A 931 Chartism 1 0 0 0 0 614 0.1 0 −0.1 N/A |} Total votes cast: 716,552."Others" are mostly Irish Independent Opposition.The Conservative total votes cast and MPs includes around 26 Peelites—some reference works claim it was as few as 18. Summary Popular vote #ddd 600px 380px Whig Whigs (British political party) 64.77 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 33.45 Others #777777 1.69 Chartist Chartism 0.09 Seats summary Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 380px Whig Whigs (British political party) 57.65 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 40.37 Others #777777 1.99 See also List of MPs elected in the 1857 United Kingdom general election 1857 United Kingdom general election in Ireland Notes References Further reading F. W. S. Craig F. W. S. Craig British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987 1989 Dartmouth Gower 0900178302 Hawkins, Angus. "British Parliamentary Party Alignment and the Indian Issue, 1857–1858." Journal of British Studies 23.2 (1984): 79-105. Hicks, Geoffrey. "Peace, war and party politics: The Conservatives and Europe 1846–59." in Peace, war and party politics (Manchester University Press, 2013). Hodgson, Robert, and John Maloney. "Economic voting in Britain, 1857–1914." Electoral Studies 31.4 (2012): 668-678. online British Electoral Facts 1832–1999 Colin Rallings Colin Rallings Michael Thrasher Michael Thrasher Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000 External links 1857 General Election Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results Category:1857 elections in the United Kingdom General election 1857 Category:March 1857 Category:April 1857 Category:Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Category:Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston