1857 United Kingdom general election

1857 United Kingdom general election
← outgoing members elected members →
All 654 seats in the House of Commons; 328 seats needed for a majority
	Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results
	Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election; Viscount Palmerston; Whig	Prime Minister after election ; Viscount Palmerston; Whig

In the 1857 United Kingdom general election, 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.^[1]

Results

UK General Election 1857

Party		Candidates						Votes
Party		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Whig	507	377^[a]			+53	57.65	64.77	464,127	+7.0
	Conservative	351	264			−66	40.37	33.45	239,712	−7.1
	Independent Irish		13				1.99	1.69	12,099
	Chartist	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	614	−0.1

Summary

Popular vote

Whig			64.77%
Conservative			33.45%
Others			1.69%
Chartist			0.09%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats

Whig			57.65%
Conservative			40.37%
Others			1.99%

Notes

^ ^a ^b The seat and vote count figures for the Whigs given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons
^ ^a ^b 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.
^ Including Peelites.
^ "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.

References

^ A. J. P. Taylor, "Lord Palmerston," History Today (1951) 1#7 pp 35-41 at p. 38 online

External links

1857 General Election
- Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results

[speaker-1] The seat and vote count figures for the Whigs given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

[uncontested-2] 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.

[3] Including Peelites.

[5] "Others" are mostly Irish Independent Opposition.

[6] The Conservative total votes cast and MPs includes around 26 Peelites—some reference works claim it was as few as 18.

[4] A. J. P. Taylor, "Lord Palmerston," History Today (1951) 1#7 pp 35-41 at p. 38 online

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