1847 United Kingdom general election

The 1847 United Kingdom general election was conducted between 29 July 1847 and 26 August 1847 and resulted in the Whigs in control of government despite candidates calling themselves Conservatives winning the most seats. The Conservatives were divided between Protectionists, led by Lord Stanley, and a minority of free-trade Tories, known also as Liberal Conservatives or the Peelites for their leader, former prime minister Sir Robert Peel. This left the Whigs, led by Prime Minister Lord John Russell, in a position to continue in government.[2]

1847 United Kingdom general election
29 July – 26 August 1847 (1847-07-29 – 1847-08-26)
All 656 seats in the House of Commons
329 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
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 36
Seat change Decrease42 Increase21 Increase16
Popular vote 205,481 259,311 14,128
Percentage 42.6%[n 1] 53.8%[n 1] 2.9%
Swing Decrease9.0% Increase7.6% Increase1.0%
Prime Minister before election

Lord John Russell
Whig

 Prime Minister after election

Lord John Russell
Whig

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 +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.[3]

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%

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 Same position 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 Same position 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 Same position 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 Same position 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 Same position 9,193 88.2
Whig 2 0 0 Same position 1,234 11.8
Total 11 0 6 Same position 10,427 100

Notes
  1. 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. Conservative totals include Liberal Conservatives.

Further reading
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