1847 United Kingdom general election

1847 United Kingdom general election

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All 656 seats in the House of Commons 329 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	482,429
First party Second party Third party   Iri Leader Lord Stanley Lord John Russell John O'Connell Party Conservative Whig Irish Repeal Leader since July 1846 October 1842 15 May 1847 Leader's seat House of Lords City of London Limerick City Last election 367 seats, 51.6% 271 seats, 46.2% 20 seats, 1.9% Seats won 325 [1] 292 [a] 36 Seat change 42 21 16 Popular vote 205,481 259,311 14,128 Percentage 42.6% [b] 53.8% [b] 2.9% Swing 9.0 pp 7.6 pp 1.0 pp
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Lord John Russell Whig Prime Minister after election Lord John Russell Whig

The 1847 United Kingdom general election was held from 29 July to 26 August 1847. It saw the Conservatives win the most seats but remain divided between Protectionists and Peelites. This allowed the Whigs, led by Prime Minister Lord John Russell, to retain power. ^[2]

The general election was held amid the Great Irish famine. ^[3] The Irish Repeal group won more seats than in the previous general election, while the Chartists gained the only seat they were ever to hold, Nottingham's second seat, held by Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor.

The election also witnessed the election of Britain's first Jewish MP, the Liberal Lionel de Rothschild in the City of London. Members being sworn in were however required to swear the Christian Oath of Allegiance, meaning Rothschild was unable actually to take his seat until the passage of the Jews Relief Act in 1858. The constituency of Sudbury, which elected two members, was disfranchised for this election. This accounts there being two fewer seats in the House of Commons as compared to the previous election, though no redistribution took place.

Results

UK General Election 1847

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Whig	292 [a]			+21	44.51	53.75	259,311	+6.9
	Conservative	325			−42	49.54	42.59	205,481	−8.2
	Irish Repeal	36			+16	5.49	2.93	14,128	+1.0
	Chartist	1	1	0	+1	0.15	0.59	2,848	0
	Irish Confederation	2	2	0	+2	0.30	0.14	661	N/A

Total votes cast: 482,429. ^[4]

Voting summary

Popular vote Whig   53.75% Conservative   42.59% Irish Repeal   2.93% Chartist   0.59% Others   0.14%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Whig   44.51% Conservative   49.54% Irish Repeal   5.49% Chartist   0.15% Others   0.3%

Regional results

Great Britain

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative & Liberal Conservatives	373	180	285		194,223	43.1
	Whig	360	125	267		253,376	56.2
	Chartist	9	0	1	+1	2,848	0.6
Total		742	305	553		450,447	100

England

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative & Liberal Conservatives	319	149	239		170,407	42.1
	Whig	297	92	222		230,656	57.2
	Chartist	9	0	1	+1	2,848	0.7
Total		625	241	462		403,911	100

Scotland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Whig	48	21	33	+2	20,092	81.7	+20.9
	Conservative & Liberal Conservatives	23	16	20	−2	3,509	18.3	−20.0
Total		71	37	53		23,601	100

Wales

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative & Liberal Conservatives	22	15	20		11,114	89.5
	Whig	13	12	12		1,394	10.5
Total		35	27	32		12,508	100

Ireland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Irish Conservative	38	24	29	−1	10,294	31.0	−6.1
	Peelite	11	9	11		964	3.0
	Irish Repeal	51	18	36		14,128	43.6
	Whig	33	11	25		5,935	20.2
	Irish Confederate	3	0	2		629	2.0
	independent politician	1	0	0		32	0.2
Total		137	62	103		31,982	100

Universities

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative & Liberal Conservatives	9	0	6		9,193	88.2
	Whig	2	0	0		1,234	11.8
Total		11	0	6		10,427	100

Notes

1. The seat and vote count figures for the Whigs given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons
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.

References

1. Including Peelites.
2. White, Isobel; Durkin, Mary (15 November 2007). "General Election Dates 1832-2005" (PDF). House of Commons.
3. "Signs of `famine fatigue' increase". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 March 2025.
4. Conservative totals include Liberal Conservatives.

Further reading

• Craig, F. W. S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN   0900178302
• Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael, eds. (2000), British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd

External links

• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results