1841 United Kingdom general election

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 (he wished to resign, as he had attempted in 1839), but he came to accept the wishes of the ministers. Melbourne requested the Queen dissolve Parliament, leading to an election.[1] The Queen thus prorogued Parliament on 22 June.[2]

1841 United Kingdom general election
29 June – 22 July 1841 (1841-06-29 – 1841-07-22)
All 658 seats in the House of Commons
330 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Sir Robert Peel Viscount Melbourne Daniel O'Connell
Party Conservative Whig Irish Repeal
Leader since 19 December 1834 16 July 1834 15 April 1840
Leader's seat Tamworth House of Lords Dublin City (defeated)
County Cork
Last election 314 seats, 47.6% 344 seats, 52.4% Compact with Whigs
Seats before 314 314 30
Seats won 367 271 20
Seat change Increase53 Decrease43 Decrease10
Popular vote 306,314 273,902 12,537
Percentage 51.6% 46.2% 2.1%
Swing Increase4.0% Decrease6.2% New party
Colours denote the winning party
Composition of the Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election

Viscount Melbourne
Whig

 Prime Minister after election

Sir Robert Peel
Conservative

The Conservatives campaigned mainly on an 11-point programme modified from their previous electoral effort and designed by Peel, whilst the Whigs emphasised reforming the import duties on corn, replacing the existing sliding scale with a uniform rate. The Whig position lost them support amongst protectionists, and the Whigs saw heavy losses in constituencies like the West Riding, where aristocratic Whig families who held a strong tradition of unbroken representation in Parliament were rejected by the electorate.

O'Connell, who had been governing with the Whigs through a compact, felt the government's unpopularity rub off on him. His own party was shattered in the election. Barely a dozen Repealers retained their seats, and O'Connell himself lost in Dublin while his son was defeated in Carlow.[3] The Chartists picked up only a few votes.

Results
UK General Election 1841
Party Candidates Votes
Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net  % of total  % No. Net %
  Conservative 498 367 +53 55.78 51.62 306,314 +2.6
  Whig 388 271 −73 41.19 46.15 273,902 −4.8
  Irish Repeal 22 20 20 0 +20 3.04 2.11 12,537 N/A
  Chartist 8 0 0 0 0 0 0.12 692 N/A
Total votes cast: 593,445.[4]

Voting summary
Popular vote
Conservative
 
 51.62%
Whig
 
 46.15%
Irish Repeal
 
 2.11%
Chartist
 
 0.12%

Seats summary
Parliamentary seats
Conservative
 
 55.78%
Whig
 
 41.19%
Irish Repeal
 
 3.04%

Great Britain
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes  %  % change
Conservative 439 185 326 +42 286,650 52.7 +4.5
Whig 333 83 229 −42 256,774 47.2 −4.6
Chartist 8 0 0 Same position 692 0.1 New entry
Total 780 268 555 Same position 544,116 100
England
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes  %  % change
Conservative 374 147 277 272,755 53.1
Whig 277 62 187 236,813 46.8
Chartist 4 0 0 Same position 307 0.1 New entry
Total 655 209 464 Same position 509,875 100
Scotland
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes  %  % change
Whig 40 13 31 -2 16,356 60.8
Conservative 35 16 22 +2 9,793 38.3
Chartist 3 0 0 Same position 385 0.9 New entry
Total 78 29 53 Same position 26,534 100
Wales
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes  %  % change
Conservative 24 16 21 4,102 53.2
Whig 16 8 11 3,605 46.8
Chartist 1 0 0 Same position 0 0.0 New entry
Total 41 24 32 Same position 7,707 100

Ireland
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes  %  % change
Whig 55 30 42 17,128 35.1
Irish Conservative 59 27 41 19,664 40.1
Irish Repeal 22 12 20 12,537 24.8
Total 136 69 103 49,329 100

Universities
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes  %  % change
Conservative 6 6 6 Same position Uncontested Uncontested
Total 6 6 6 Same position Uncontested Uncontested

Notable Whig MPs who lost their seats

References
  1. Kemp, Betty (June 1952), "The General Election of 1841", History, 37 (130): 146–157, doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1952.tb00231.x, JSTOR 24402876
  2. Saint James's Chronicle Tuesday 22 June 1841, p.2.
  3. Marriott, John (1913). England since Waterloo. p. 143. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  4. British Electoral Facts 1832–2006, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Parliamentary Research Services, 2007)

Further reading
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