1835 United Kingdom general election

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1835 United Kingdom general election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1832 6 January – 6 February 1835 (1835-01-06 1835-02-06) 1837  

All 658 seats in the House of Commons
330 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, painted by John Partridge.jpg Robert Peel by RR Scanlan detail.jpg
Leader Viscount Melbourne Sir Robert Peel
Party Whig Conservative
Leader since16 July 183419 December 1834
Leader's seat House of Lords Tamworth
Last election441 seats, 67.0%175 seats, 29.2%
Seats won385 [a] 273
Seat changeDecrease2.svg56Increase2.svg98
Popular vote349,868261,269
Percentage57.2%42.8%
SwingDecrease2.svg9.8 pp Increase2.svg13.6 pp

United Kingdom general election 1835.svg
Colours denote the winning party [1]

1835 UK GE Composition diagram.svg
Composition of the House of Commons after the election

Prime Minister before election

Sir Robert Peel
Conservative

Prime Minister after
election

Viscount Melbourne
Whig

The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large majority.

Contents

Under the terms of the Lichfield House Compact the Whigs had entered into an electoral pact with the Irish Repeal Association of Daniel O'Connell, which had contested the previous election as a separate party. The Radicals were also included in this alliance.

Dates of election

The eleventh United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 19 February 1835, for a maximum seven-year term from that date. The maximum term could be and normally was curtailed, by the monarch dissolving the Parliament, before its term expired.

At this period there was not one election day. After receiving a writ (a royal command) for the election to be held, the local returning officer fixed the election timetable for the particular constituency or constituencies he was concerned with. Polling in seats with contested elections could continue for many days.

The general election took place between January and February 1835. The first nomination was on 5 January, with the first contest on 6 January and the last contest on 6 February 1835. It was usual for polling in the University constituencies and in Orkney and Shetland to take place about a week after other seats. Disregarding contests in the Universities and Orkney and Shetland, the last poll was on 27 January 1835.

Peel ran a minority Conservative government until 8 April 1835, after being unable to form a majority. Melbourne subsequently became Prime Minister forming a Whig government.

Results

1835 UK parliament.svg
UK General Election 1835
PartyCandidatesVotes
StoodElectedGainedUnseatedNet % of total %No.Net %
  Whig 5383855658.5157.25349,8689.7
  Conservative 407273+9841.4942.75261,269+13.6
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeats
Whig 538154385
Conservative 407121273
Total945275658

Voting summary

Popular vote
Whig
57.25%
Conservative
42.75%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Whig
58.51%
Conservative
41.49%

Regional results

Great Britain

PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Whig 45112631791315,00257.213.9
Conservative 338102238+91235,90742.8+13.9
Total789228555Steady3.svg550,909100
England
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Whig 38010026483281,57657.413.4
Conservative 27877200+84209,96442.6+13.4
Total658177464Steady3.svg491,540100
Scotland
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Whig 521538528,30762.816.2
Conservative 33815+515,73337.2+16.2
Total852353Steady3.svg44,040100
Wales
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Conservative 211117+310,21063.9+10.5
Whig 19111535,11936.110.5
Total402232Steady3.svg15,329100

Ireland

PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Whig/Repeal Coalition [2] 872868734,86657.610.3
Irish Conservative 691935+725,36242.4+10.3
Total1564710360,228100

Universities

PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Conservative 666Steady3.svgUncontested
Total666Steady3.svgNone100

Notes

  1. Including 43 moderate adherents of Lord Stanley who voted for a Conservative speaker.

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References

  1. Darker colours and stripes indicate multiple seat constituencies.
  2. Coalition parties had won a total of 75 seats and 67.9% of the vote in 1832.