1727 British general election

The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th 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 triggered by the death of King George I; at the time, it was the convention to hold new elections following the succession of a new monarch. The Tories, led in the House of Commons by William Wyndham, and under the direction of Bolingbroke, who had returned to the country in 1723 after being pardoned for his role in the Jacobite rising of 1715, lost further ground to the Whigs, rendering them ineffectual and largely irrelevant to practical politics. A group known as the Patriot Whigs, led by William Pulteney, who were disenchanted with Walpole's government and believed he was betraying Whig principles, had been formed prior to the election. Bolingbroke and Pulteney had not expected the next election to occur until 1729, and were consequently caught unprepared and failed to make any gains against the government party.

1727 British general election

14 August – 17 October 1727 (1727-08-14 – 1727-10-17)
All 558 seats in the House of Commons 280 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sir Robert Walpole Viscount Bolingbroke William Pulteney Party Whig Tory Opposition / Patriot Whigs Leader's seat King's Lynn House of Lords Hedon Seats won 415 128 15 Seat change 26 41 15
Prime Minister before election Sir Robert Walpole Whig Prime Minister after election Sir Robert Walpole Whig