1774 British general election

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1774 British general election
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg
  1768 5 October – 10 November 1774 (1774-10-05 1774-11-10) 1780  

All 558 seats in the House of Commons
280 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford by Nathaniel Dance, (later Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, Bt).jpg
Roc
Leader Lord North William Dowdeswell
Party Northite Rockinghamite
Leader's seat Banbury Worcestershire
Seats won343215

Results of the 1774 GB General Election.svg
Composition of the House of Commons after the election

Prime Minister before election

Lord North
Northite

Prime Minister after
election

Lord North
Northite

The 1774 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 14th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Lord North's government was returned with a large majority. The opposition consisted of factions supporting the Marquess of Rockingham and William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, both of whom referred to themselves as Whigs. North's opponents referred to his supporters as Tories, but no Tory party existed at the time and his supporters rejected the label.

Contents

Summary of the constituencies

See 1796 British general election for details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.

Dates of election

The general election was held between 5 October 1774 and 10 November 1774. North's ministry pushed for elections to occur in 1774 (instead of the originally planned 1775) in part due to wanting to avoid having an election coincide with increasing tensions in the American colonies. [1]

At this period elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each county or parliamentary borough fixed the precise date (see husting for details of the conduct of the elections).


Results

1774 British general election results.svg

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Tory
61.4%
Rockinghamite
38.5%

See also

References

  1. Middlekauff, Robert (2005). The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 . New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 267. ISBN   0-19-516247-1. OCLC   55960833.