List of United Kingdom general elections

For by-election results, see List of United Kingdom by-elections (2010–present). For information on UK elections in general, see Elections in the United Kingdom. For earlier elections, see Elections in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

United Kingdom general elections (elections for the House of Commons) have occurred in the United Kingdom since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, before being co-opted to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom, so that Parliament is not included in the table below. There have been 58 general elections held in the UK up to and including the 2024 general election.

The UK government announced that the voting age will be lowered from 18 to 16 ahead of the next general election, fulfilling a key pledge by the Labour Party elected in July 2024. The move is part of broader democratic reforms, including automatic voter registration, acceptance of bank cards as ID, and stricter rules on campaign financing to curb foreign interference. The changes aim to boost participation after the 2024 election saw a historic low turnout of 59.7% and must be approved by Parliament before implementation. ^[1]

Election results

Shares of the vote in general elections since 1832 received by Conservatives (blue), Liberals/Liberal Democrats (orange), Labour (red) and others (grey)

In 1801, the right to vote in the United Kingdom was severely restricted. Universal suffrage, on an equal basis for men and women over the age of 21, was established in 1928. Before 1918, general elections did not occur on a single day and polling was spread over several weeks.

The majority figure given is for the difference between the number of MPs elected at the general election from the party (or parties) of the government, as opposed to all other parties (some of which may have been giving some support to the government, but were not participating in a coalition). The Speaker is excluded from the calculation. A negative majority means that there was a hung parliament (or minority government) following that election. For example, at the 1929 general election, Labour was 42 seats short of forming a majority, and so its majority is listed as −42. If the party in office changed the figure is re-calculated, but no allowance is made for changes after the general election.

No attempt is made to define a majority before 1832, when the Reform Act disenfranchised the rotten boroughs; before then the Tory party had an undemocratically entrenched dominance. Particularly in the early part of the period, the complexity of factional alignments, with both the Whig and Tory traditions tending to have some members in government and others in opposition factions simultaneously, make it impossible to produce an objective majority figure. The figures between 1832 and about 1859 are approximate due to problems of defining what was a party in government, as the source provides figures for all Liberals rather than just the Whig component in what developed into the Liberal Party. The Whig and Peelite Prime Ministers in the table below are regarded as having the support of all Liberals.

List of elections

19th century

Election	No.	Dates	Prime Minister appointed by Monarch (during term)	Winning party	Government vote share	Seat majority	Seats	Monarch
1802 (MPs)	1st	5 July – 28 August 1802	Henry Addington	Tory	N/A	N/A	658	George III
			(William Pitt the Younger) [a]
1806 (MPs)	2nd	29 October – 17 December 1806	The Lord Grenville	Whig	N/A	N/A	658
1807 (MPs)	3rd	4 May – 9 June 1807	The Duke of Portland	Tory	N/A	N/A	658
			(Spencer Perceval) [a]
1812 (MPs)	4th	5 October – 10 November 1812	The Earl of Liverpool
1818 (MPs)	5th	17 June – 18 July 1818
1820 (MPs)	6th	6 March – 14 April 1820						George IV
1826 (MPs)	7th	7 June – 12 July 1826	George Canning [a]
			(The Viscount Goderich)
			(The Duke of Wellington)
1830 (MPs)	8th	29 July – 1 September 1830	The Duke of Wellington [b] [5]					William IV
1831 (MPs)	9th	28 April – 1 June 1831	The Earl Grey	Whig	N/A	135	658
1832 (MPs)	10th	10 December 1832 – 8 January 1833 [6]	The Earl Grey		67.0%	225
			(The Viscount Melbourne) [c] [7]
		10 December 1832 – 8 January 1833 [8]	(The Duke of Wellington)	Conservative	29.2%	−308	658
			(Sir Robert Peel)
1835 (MPs)	11th	6 January – 6 February 1835	Sir Robert Peel [d] [9]		42.8%	−113
		6 January – 6 February 1835	(The Viscount Melbourne)	Whig	57.2%	113	658
1837 (MPs)	12th	24 July – 18 August 1837	The Viscount Melbourne [e] [10]		52.4%	29		Victoria
1841 (MPs)	13th	29 June – 22 July 1841	The Viscount Melbourne [f] [11]		46.2%	N/A
		29 June – 22 July 1841	(Sir Robert Peel) [g] [12]	Conservative	51.6%	77	658
		29 June – 22 July 1841	(Lord John Russell)	Whig	46.2%	N/A	658
1847 (MPs)	14th	29 July – 26 August 1847	Lord John Russell [h] [13]		53.8%	−72	656
		29 July – 26 August 1847	(The Earl of Derby)	Conservative	42.6%	N/A	656
1852 (MPs)	15th	7–31 July 1852	The Earl of Derby [i] [14]		41.9%	7	654
		7–31 July 1852	(The Earl of Aberdeen) [j] [15]	Peelite	N/A	N/A	654
		7–31 July 1852	(The Viscount Palmerston)	Whig	57.9%	N/A	654
1857 (MPs)	16th	27 March – 24 April 1857	The Viscount Palmerston [k] [16]		64.8%	100
		27 March – 24 April 1857	(The Earl of Derby)	Conservative	33.5%	N/A	654
1859 (MPs)	17th	28 April – 18 May 1859	The Earl of Derby [l] [17]		34.2%
		28 April – 18 May 1859	(The Viscount Palmerston)	Liberal	65.8%	59	654
1865 (MPs)	18th	11–24 July 1865	The Viscount Palmerston [a]		59.5%	81	658
			(The Earl Russell) [m] [18]			N/A
		11–24 July 1865	(The Earl of Derby)	Conservative	40.5%	N/A	658
			(Benjamin Disraeli)
1868 (MPs)	19th	17 November – 7 December 1868	William Ewart Gladstone	Liberal	61.2%	115	658
1874 (MPs)	20th	31 January – 17 February 1874	Benjamin Disraeli	Conservative	44.3%	49	652
1880 (MPs)	21st	31 March – 27 April 1880	William Ewart Gladstone [19]	Liberal	54.7%	51	652
		31 March – 27 April 1880	(The Marquess of Salisbury)	Conservative	42.5%	N/A	652
1885 (MPs)	22nd	24 November – 18 December 1885	The Marquess of Salisbury [20]	Conservative [n]	43.0%		670
		24 November – 18 December 1885	(William Ewart Gladstone) [21]	Liberal	47.7%	−16	670
1886 (MPs)	23rd	1–27 July 1886	The Marquess of Salisbury	Conservative & Liberal Unionists	51.4%	58	670
1892 (MPs)	24th	4–26 July 1892	The Marquess of Salisbury [22]		47.0%	N/A
		4–26 July 1892	(William Ewart Gladstone)	Liberal	45.4%	−126	670
			(The Earl of Rosebery) [23]
		4–26 July 1892	(The Marquess of Salisbury) [o]	Conservative & Liberal Unionists	47.0%	N/A	670
1895 (MPs)	25th	13 July – 7 August 1895	The Marquess of Salisbury		49.3%	153
1900 (MPs)	26th	26 September – 24 October 1900 [p]	The Marquess of Salisbury		50.2%	135
			(Arthur Balfour)			N/A
		26 September – 24 October 1900 [p]	(Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman) [o]	Liberal	45.1%	N/A	670

1. Died in office.
2. Was defeated on a motion to examine the accounts of the Civil List on 15 November 1830 and resigned the following day.
3. Was dismissed by William IV on 14 November 1834.
4. Peel was defeated on a report about the Irish Church on 7 April 1835 and resigned the following day.
5. Defeated on a motion of no confidence on 4 June 1841 and advised the Queen to dissolve Parliament, which she did on 23 June.
6. Ministry met the House of Commons, but was defeated on an amendment to the Address on 27 August 1841 and resigned on 30 August 1841.
7. Was defeated on an Irish Coercion Bill on 25 June 1846 and resigned on 29 June 1846.
8. Was defeated on a militia bill on 20 February 1852 and resigned on 23 February.
9. Was defeated on the Budget on 16 December 1852 and resigned on 19 December 1852.
10. Was defeated on a vote in favour of a select committee to enquire into alleged mismanagement during the Crimean War on 29 January 1855 and resigned the next day.
11. Was defeated on a Bill, which made it a felony to plot in Britain to murder someone abroad, on 19 February 1858 and resigned on the same day.
12. Ministry met the Commons, but was defeated on an amendment to the Address on 10 June 1859 and resigned on 11 June 1859.
13. Was defeated on Parliamentary reform proposals on 18 June 1866 and resigned on 26 June 1866.
14. Hung parliament.
15. Immediately advised the dissolution of Parliament upon becoming Prime Minister.
16. Known as a Khaki election which is an election heavily influenced by wartime or postwar sentiment.

20th century

Election	No.	Date	Prime Minister appointed by Monarch (during term)	Winning party	Government vote share	Seat majority	Seats	Turnout [24]	Monarch
1906 (MPs)	27th	12 January – 8 February 1906	Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman	Liberal	48.9%	129	670	N/A	Edward VII
			(H. H. Asquith)
1910 (MPs)	28th	15 January – 10 February 1910	H. H. Asquith	Liberal (minority government) [a]	43.5%	−122	670	N/A
1910 (MPs)	29th	3–19 December 1910	H. H. Asquith		44.2%	−126			George V
			(David Lloyd George)
The election that would have been due by 1916 as a result of the Parliament Act 1911 was not held due to the First World War (1914–1918).
1918 (MPs)	30th	14 December 1918	David Lloyd George	Liberal (coalition) [b]	53.0%	238	707	57.2%
		14 December 1918	(Bonar Law) [c]	Conservative	53.0%	238	707	57.2%
1922 (MPs)	31st	15 November 1922	Bonar Law		38.5%	74	615	73.0%
			(Stanley Baldwin)
1923 (MPs)	32nd	6 December 1923	Stanley Baldwin [25]	Conservative (minority government) [a]	N/A	615	71.1%
			(Ramsay MacDonald)	Labour (minority government)	30.7%			−98
1924 (MPs)	33rd	29 October 1924	Stanley Baldwin	Conservative	46.8%	210	615	77.0%
1929 (MPs)	34th	30 May 1929 [d]	Ramsay MacDonald	Labour (minority government) [a]	37.1%	−42	615	76.3%
1931 (MPs)	35th	27 October 1931	Ramsay MacDonald	National Labour (National Government)	67.2%	492	615	76.4%
1935 (MPs)	36th	14 November 1935	Stanley Baldwin	Conservative (National Government)	51.8%	242	615	71.1%
			(Neville Chamberlain)						George VI
			(Winston Churchill)	Conservative (war-time coalition)	97.7%	609
				Conservative (caretaker government)	51.8%	242
The election due by 1940 was not held due to the Second World War (1939–1945). [26]
1945 (MPs)	37th	5 July 1945	Clement Attlee	Labour	47.7%	146	640	72.8%
1950 (MPs)	38th	23 February 1950			46.1%	5	625	83.9%
1951 (MPs)	39th	25 October 1951	Sir Winston Churchill	Conservative	48.0% [e]	17	625	82.6%
			(Sir Anthony Eden)						Elizabeth II
1955 (MPs)	40th	26 May 1955	Anthony Eden		49.7%	60	630	76.8%
			(Harold Macmillan)
1959 (MPs)	41st	8 October 1959	Harold Macmillan		49.4%	100		78.7%
			(Alec Douglas-Home)
1964 (MPs)	42nd	15 October 1964	Harold Wilson	Labour	44.1%	4	630	77.1%
1966 (MPs)	43rd	31 March 1966			48.0%	98		75.8%
1970 (MPs)	44th	18 June 1970	Edward Heath	Conservative	46.4%	30	630	72.0%
1974 (MPs)	45th	28 February 1974	Harold Wilson	Labour (minority government) [a]	37.2%	−33	630	78.8%
1974 (MPs)	46th	10 October 1974	Harold Wilson	Labour	39.2%	3	635	72.8%
			(James Callaghan)
1979 (MPs)	47th	3 May 1979	Margaret Thatcher	Conservative	43.9%	43	635	76.0%
1983 (MPs)	48th	9 June 1983			42.4%	144	650	72.7%
1987 (MPs)	49th	11 June 1987	Margaret Thatcher		42.2%	102		75.3%
			(John Major)
1992 (MPs)	50th	9 April 1992	John Major		41.9%	21	651	77.7%
1997 (MPs)	51st	1 May 1997	Tony Blair	Labour	43.2%	179	659	71.4%

1. Hung parliament.
2. Coalition Coupon. The Conservative party (led by Bonar Law) won the most votes and seats, but David Lloyd George became Prime Minister as leader of the Liberal party as part of a major cross-party deal.
3. Bonar Law immediately advised the dissolution of Parliament upon becoming Prime Minister on 23 October 1922.
4. Known as the 'flapper' election because it was the first election in which women aged 21–29 had the right to vote.
5. In the 1951 general election, although the Labour Party won a plurality of votes (48.8%), it was the Conservative Party with 48% of the voteshare that won a 17-seat majority and would go on to form the next government.

21st century

Election	No.	Date	Prime Minister appointed by Monarch (during term)	Winning party	Government vote share	Seat majority	Seats	Turnout [24]	Monarch
2001 (MPs)	52nd	7 June 2001	Tony Blair	Labour	40.7%	167	659	59.4%	Elizabeth II
2005 (MPs)	53rd	5 May 2005	Tony Blair		35.2%	66	646	61.4%
			(Gordon Brown) [a]
2010 (MPs)	54th	6 May 2010	David Cameron	Conservative (coalition) [b]	59.1% [c]	78 [d]	650	65.1%
2015 (MPs)	55th	7 May 2015	David Cameron	Conservative	36.8%	12	650	66.1%
			(Theresa May) [e]
2017 (MPs)	56th	8 June 2017	Theresa May	Conservative (confidence and supply government) [f]	42.3%	−5 [g]	650	68.8% [27]
			(Boris Johnson) [h]
2019 (MPs)	57th	12 December 2019	Boris Johnson	Conservative	43.6%	80	650	67.3%
			(Liz Truss) [i]
			(Rishi Sunak) [j]						Charles III
2024 (MPs)	58th	4 July 2024	Sir Keir Starmer	Labour	33.7%	174	650	59.9%

1. Brown succeeded Blair as leader of the Labour party on 24 June 2007, after being unopposed in a party leadership election. He officially became Prime Minister 3 days later.
2. Hung parliament. Formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, led by Nick Clegg (who became Deputy Prime Minister).
3. Includes the vote share of both the Conservatives (36.1%) and Liberal Democrats (23%).
4. Combined coalition total.
5. May succeeded Cameron as Prime Minister on 13 July 2016, following a short party leadership election.
6. Hung parliament.
7. Confidence and supply agreement with the Democratic Unionist Party.
8. Johnson succeeded May as Prime Minister on 24 July 2019 – two days after being elected leader of the Conservative Party in a party leadership election.
9. Truss succeeded Johnson as Prime Minister on 6 September 2022 – the day after being elected leader of the Conservative Party in the July–September party leadership election.
10. Sunak succeeded Truss as Prime Minister on 25 October 2022 – the day after being elected (without opposition) leader of the Conservative Party in the October party leadership election.

See also

• List of Conservative Party (UK) general election manifestos
• List of Labour Party (UK) general election manifestos
• List of Liberal Party and Liberal Democrats (UK) general election manifestos
• Referendums in the United Kingdom

Notes

1. Including Tory (1832), Conservative (from 1835), Liberal Conservative (1847–1859), Liberal Unionist (1886–1910), National parties (1931–1945).
2. Including Whig (to mid-19th century), Liberal (mid-19th century to 1979), National Liberal (1922), Independent Liberal (1931), SDP-Liberal Alliance (1983–1987) and Liberal Democrat (from 1992).

References

1. "UK to lower voting age to 16 in major electoral reform".
2. Table 2.01 "Summary Results of General Elections 1832–2005 (UK)", in Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, British electoral facts, 1832–2006 (7th ed.), 2007, ISBN   978-0-7546-2712-8, p. 59.
3. "Election 2010 Results", BBC News .
4. "Election 2015 Results", BBC News .
5. "COMMITTEE "UPON THE CIVIL LIST". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 15 November 1830.
6. "parliament.uk" (PDF). parliament.uk. commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
7. "PROROGATION". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 15 August 1834.
8. "parliament.uk" (PDF). parliament.uk. commonslibrary.parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
9. "CHURCH OF IRELAND". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 7 April 1835.
10. "CONFIDENCE IN THE MINISTRY— ADJOURNED DEBATE (FIFTH DAY)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 4 June 1841.
11. "ADDRESS IN ANSWER TO THE SPEECH— ADJOURNED DEBATE, FOURTH NIGHT". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 27 August 1841.
12. "PROTECTION OF LIFE (IRELAND) BILL—ADJOURNED DEBATE—(SIXTH NIGHT)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 25 June 1846.
13. "LOCAL MILITIA". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 20 February 1852.
14. "WAYS AND MEANS—FINANCIAL STATEMENT—ADJOURNED DEBATE(FOURTH NIGHT)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 16 December 1852.
15. "ARMY (CRIMEA)—THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR, AND CONDITION OF THE ARMY. ADJOURNED DEBATE.—(SECOND NIGHT.)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 29 January 1855.
16. "SECOND READING". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 19 February 1858. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
17. "DEBATE RESUMED. (THIRD NIGHT)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 10 June 1859. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
18. "MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 19 June 1866.
19. Was defeated on the Budget on 8 June 1885 and resigned the next day
20. Met the Commons, but was defeated on an amendment to the Address on 26 January 1886 and resigned on 28 January
21. Was defeated on the Government of Ireland Bill on 7 June 1886 and advised the Queen to dissolve Parliament, which she did on 26 June.
22. Met the Commons, but was defeated on an amendment to the Address on 11 August 1892 and resigned the same day
23. Was defeated on the Cordite Vote on 21 June 1895 and resigned that day
24. Rogers, Simon (16 November 2012). "UK election historic turnouts since 1918 | News". theguardian.com. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
25. Met the Commons, but was defeated on an amendment to the Address on 21 January 1924 and resigned the next day
26. Katritses, Thomas. "British By-Elections in War-Time", American Political Science Review, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Jun., 1942), pp. 525-532.
27. Bate, Alex; Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Audickas, Lukas; Dempsey, Noel; Hawkins, Oliver; Cracknell, Richard; McInnes, Roderick; Rutherford, Tom; Apostolova, Vyara (29 January 2019). "General Election 2017: full results and analysis". House of Commons Library. UK Parliament.