British general election, 1780

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British general election, 1780
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg
  1774 6 September – 18 October 1780 (1780-09-06 1780-10-18) 1784  

All 558 seats in the House of Commons
280 seats needed for a majority

  First party Second party
  Nathaniel Dance Lord North cropped.jpg Hon. Henry Seymour Conway.jpg
Leader Lord North Henry Seymour Conway
Party Northite Rockinghamite
Leader's seat Banbury Thetford
Seats won260 254
Seat changeDecrease2.svg83Increase2.svg39

Prime Minister before election

Lord North
Northite

Appointed Prime Minister

Lord North
Northite

The 1780 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 15th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was held during the American War of Independence and returned Lord North to form a new government with a small and rocky majority. The opposition consisted largely of the Rockingham Whigs, the Whig faction led by the Marquess of Rockingham. North's opponents referred to his supporters as Tories, but no Tory party existed at the time and his supporters rejected the label.

House of Commons of Great Britain historic British lower house of Parliament

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.

Parliament of Great Britain parliament from 1714 to 1800

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts created a new unified Kingdom of Great Britain and dissolved the separate English and Scottish parliaments in favour of a single parliament, located in the former home of the English parliament in the Palace of Westminster, near the City of London. This lasted nearly a century, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate British and Irish Parliaments into a single Parliament of the United Kingdom with effect from 1 January 1801.

Parliament of England historic legislature of the Kingdom of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England, existing from the early 13th century until 1707, when it merged with the Parliament of Scotland to become the Parliament of Great Britain after the political union of England and Scotland created the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Contents

Summary of the constituencies

See British general election, 1796 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 6 September 1780 and 18 October 1780.

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 hustings for details of the conduct of the elections).

See also

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References