1859 United Kingdom general election

none August 2024 May 2014 1859 United Kingdom general election United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland parliamentary no 1857 United Kingdom general election 1857 List of MPs elected in the 1857 United Kingdom general election 1865 United Kingdom general election 1865 565,500 All 654 seats in the House of Commons 328 1859 4 28 1859 5 18 yes 160x160px Viscount Palmerston 6 February 1855 Liberal Party (UK) Tiverton 377 seats, 64.8% 356speaker 21 372,117 65.8% 1.0 pp 160x160px Earl of Derby July 1846 Conservative Party (UK) House of Lords 264 seats, 33.5% 298 34 193,232 34.2% 0.7 pp 300px Results by constituency 300px Results by country Colours denote the winning party—as shown in Results Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Earl of Derby Conservative Party (UK) Viscount Palmerston Whigs (British political party) File:1859 UK GE Composition diagram.svg Composition of the House of Commons after the election List of MPs elected in the 1859 United Kingdom general election The 1859 United Kingdom general election was held from 28 April to 18 May 1859 following the defeat of Prime Minister the Earl of Derby's Conservative government in a vote of confidence. The newly formed Liberal Party, led by Viscount Palmerston, secured victory despite winning fewer seats than in the previous election. 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. It was also the last general election entered by the Chartists, before their organisation was dissolved. 2024, this is the last election in which the Conservatives won the most seats in Wales.Why Wales decided to forgive the Tories https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/why-wales-decided-to-forgive-the-tories/ Scully Roger 4 May 2017 The Spectator 4 May 2017 4 May 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170504153640/https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/why-wales-decided-to-forgive-the-tories/ dead The election was the quietest and least competitive between 1832 and 1885, with most county elections being uncontested. The election also saw the lowest number of candidates between 1832 and 1885, with Tory gains potentially being the result of a lack of opposition as much as a change in public opinion.Hawkins A. 18 June 1987 Parliament, Party and the Art of Politics in Britain, 1855–59 https://books.google.com/books?id=ofiwCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA377 377 9781349089253 According to A. J. P. Taylor: the government which Palmerston organized in June 1859 was a coalition of a different kind: not a coalition of groups which looked back to the past, but a coalition which anticipated the future. Had it not been for Palmerston himself—too individual, too full of personality to be fitted into a party-pattern—it would have been the first Liberal government in our history. Everything that was important in it was Liberal—finance, administrative reform, its very composition: the first government with unmistakable middle-class Free Traders as members.A. J. P. Taylor "Lord Palmerston", History Today (1951) 1#7 pp 35-41 at p. 39 none 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 Results center|300px 1859 United Kingdom general election Liberal Party (UK) 465 356speaker The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons −21 372,117 65.80 54.43 −0.2 yes 1,045 Conservative Party (UK) 394 298 +34 193,232 34.17 45.57 +0.3 648 Chartism 1 0 0 0 0 151 0.03 0 −0.1 N/A |} Total votes cast: 565,500. Voting summary Popular vote #ddd 600px 380px Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 65.80 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 34.17 Chartist Chartism 0.09 Seats summary Parliamentary seats #ddd 600px 380px Liberal Liberal Party (UK) 54.43 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 45.57 Regional results Great Britain Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change Liberal Party (UK) 392 157 306 314,708 66.6 Conservative Party (UK) & Peelites 327 160 245 157,974 33.4 Chartism 1 0 0 151 0.0 Total 720 317 551 472,833 100 England Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change Liberal Party (UK) 330 109 251 307,949 67.1 Conservative Party (UK) & Peelite 286 129 209 152,591 32.9 Chartism 1 0 0 151 0.0 Total 617 238 460 460,691 100 Scotland Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change Liberal Party (UK) 44 34 40 5,174 66.4 Conservative Party (UK) & Peelite 17 11 13 2,616 33.6 Total 61 45 53 7,790 100 Wales Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change Conservative Party (UK) & Peelite 18 14 17 2,767 63.6 Liberal Party (UK) 18 14 15 1,585 36.4 Total 36 28 32 4,352 100 Ireland 1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change Irish Conservative Party & Peelite 67 36 53 35,258 38.9 Liberal Party (UK) 73 26 50 57,409 61.1 Total 140 62 103 92,667 100 Universities Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change Conservative Party (UK) & Peelite 6 6 6 Total 6 6 6 100 See also List of MPs elected in the 1859 United Kingdom general election 1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland Notes References Sources 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 External links Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results Category:1859 elections in the United Kingdom General election 1859 Category:April 1859 in the United Kingdom Category:May 1859 in the United Kingdom Category:Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby Category:Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston