1837 United Kingdom general election

Last updated

1837 United Kingdom general election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1835 24 July – 18 August 1837 (1837-07-24 1837-08-18) 1841  

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 election385 seats, 57.2%273 seats, 42.8%
Seats won344314
Seat changeDecrease2.svg41Increase2.svg41
Popular vote418,331379,694
Percentage52.4%47.6%
SwingDecrease2.svg4.8%Increase2.svg4.8%

United Kingdom general election 1837.svg
Colours denote the winning party

Prime Minister before election

Viscount Melbourne
Whig

Prime Minister after
election

Viscount Melbourne
Whig

The 1837 United Kingdom general election was triggered by the death of King William IV and produced the first Parliament of the reign of his successor, Queen Victoria. It saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade.

Contents

The election marked the last time that a Parliament was dissolved as a result of the demise of the Crown. The dissolution of Parliament six months after a demise of the Crown, as provided for by the Succession to the Crown Act 1707, was abolished by the Reform Act 1867.

Results

1837 UK parliament.svg
UK General Election 1837
PartyCandidatesVotes
StoodElectedGainedUnseatedNet % of total %No.Net %
  Whig 5103444152.2852.42418,3314.8
  Conservative 484314+4147.7247.58379,694+4.8

Voting summary

Popular vote
Whig
52.42%
Conservative
47.58%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Whig
52.28%
Conservative
47.72%

Regional results

Great Britain

PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Conservative 414102284+46353,00048.2+5.4
Whig 4228127146379,96151.85.4
Total836183555Equals-sign-blue.gif732,961100
England
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Conservative 34880239+39321,12448.9+6.3
Whig 3526022539347,54951.16.3
Total658177464Equals-sign-blue.gif491,540100
Scotland
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Whig 491533522,08254.08.8
Conservative 35720+518,56946.0+8.8
Total842253Equals-sign-blue.gif40,651100
Wales
PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Conservative 251119+211,61652.811.1
Whig 20613210,14447.2+11.1
Total451732Equals-sign-blue.gif21,760100

Ireland

PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Whig/Repeal Coalition 883473+538,37058.5+9.9
Irish Conservative 701930526,69441.59.9
Total1585310365,064100

Universities

PartyCandidatesUnopposedSeatsSeats changeVotes % % change
Conservative 646Equals-sign-blue.gif1,69190.1
Whig 100Equals-sign-blue.gif1869.9
Total666Equals-sign-blue.gif1,877100

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">December 1910 United Kingdom general election</span>

The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last general election to be held over several days and the last to be held before the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1885 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1885 United Kingdom general election was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885. This was the first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats. For the first time a majority of adult males could vote and most constituencies by law returned a single member to Parliament, fulfilling one of the ideals of Chartism to provide direct single-member, single-electorate accountability. It saw the Liberals, led by William Gladstone, win the most seats, but not an overall majority. As the Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between them and the Conservatives who sat with an increasing number of allied Unionist MPs, this exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and led to a Liberal split and another general election the following year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1865 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1841 United Kingdom general election</span>

In the 1841 United Kingdom general election, there was a big swing as Sir Robert Peel's Conservatives took control of the House of Commons. Melbourne's Whigs had seen their support in the Commons erode over the previous years. Whilst Melbourne enjoyed the firm support of the young Queen Victoria, his ministry had seen increasing defeats in the Commons, culminating in the defeat of the government's budget in May 1841 by 36 votes, and by 1 vote in a 4 June 1841 vote of no confidence put forward by Peel. According to precedent, Melbourne's defeat required his resignation. However, the cabinet decided to ask for a dissolution, which was opposed by Melbourne personally, but he came to accept the wishes of the ministers. Melbourne requested the Queen dissolve Parliament, leading to an election. The Queen thus prorogued Parliament on 22 June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1835 United Kingdom general election</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1832 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1832 United Kingdom general election, the first after the Reform Act, saw the Whigs win a large majority, with the Tories winning less than 30% of the vote.

Frederick Walter Scott Craig was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compiling election results in his spare time which were published by the Scottish Unionist Party. In the late 1960s he launched his own business as a publisher of reference books, and also compiled various other statistics concerning British politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ynys Môn (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the UK

Ynys Môn is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashton-under-Lyne (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1832 onwards

Ashton-under-Lyne is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It has been represented since 2015 by Angela Rayner, who has served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party since 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Durham (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

North Durham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2001 by Kevan Jones of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berwick-upon-Tweed (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency in England since 2015

Berwick-upon-Tweed is a parliamentary constituency in Northumberland represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, a Conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dover (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency since 1369

Dover is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Natalie Elphicke, a Conservative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demise of the Crown</span> British and Commonwealth legal term for transfer of Crown

Demise of the Crown is the legal term in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms for the transfer of the Crown upon the death or abdication of the monarch. The Crown transfers automatically to the monarch's heir. The concept evolved in the kingdom of England, and was continued in Great Britain and then the United Kingdom. The concept also became part of the constitutions of the British colonies, and was continued in the constitutions of the Commonwealth realms, until modified within those realms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1831 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 1831 United Kingdom general election saw a landslide win by supporters of electoral reform, which was the major election issue. As a result, it was the last unreformed election, as the Parliament which resulted ensured the passage of the Reform Act 1832. Polling was held from 28 April to 1 June 1831. The Whigs won a majority of 136 over the Tories, which was as near to a landslide as the unreformed electoral system could deliver. As the Government obtained a dissolution of Parliament once the new electoral system had been enacted, the resulting Parliament was a short one and there was another election the following year. The election was the first since 1715 to see a victory by a party previously in minority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Repeal Association</span> Political party in Ireland

The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell in 1830 to campaign for a repeal of the Acts of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland.

The 1741 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 9th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw support for the government party increase in the quasi-democratic constituencies which were decided by popular vote, but the Whigs lost control of a number of rotten and pocket boroughs, partly as a result of the influence of the Prince of Wales, and were consequently re-elected with the barest of majorities in the Commons, Walpole's supporters only narrowly outnumbering his opponents.

The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Thanks to the Septennial Act 1715, which swept away the maximum three-year life of a parliament created by the Meeting of Parliament Act 1694, it followed some seven years after the previous election, that of 1715.

Electors must be on the electoral register in order to vote in elections and referendums in the UK. Electoral registration officers within local authorities have a duty to compile and maintain accurate electoral registers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Commons of Great Britain</span> British Parliament lower house from 1707 to 1801

The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant changes brought about by the Union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

References