In the 1857 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, won a majority in the House of Commons as the Conservative vote fell significantly. The election had been provoked by a vote of censure in Palmerston's government over his approach to the Arrow affair which led to the Second Opium War.
There is no separate tally of votes or seats for the Peelites. They did not contest elections as an organised party but more as independent Free trade Conservatives with varying degrees of distance from the two main parties.
The general election of 1857 is unique in our history: the only election ever conducted as a simple plebiscite in favour of an individual. Even the "coupon" election of 1918 claimed to be more than a plebiscite for Lloyd George; even Disraeli and Gladstone offered a clash of policies as well as of personalities. In 1857 there was no issue before the electorate except whether Palmerston should be Prime Minister; and no one could pretend that Palmerston had any policy except to be himself.[2]
^ abSeveral 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.
1857, united, kingdom, general, election, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, s. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 1857 United Kingdom general election news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message In the 1857 United Kingdom general election the Whigs led by Lord Palmerston won a majority in the House of Commons as the Conservative vote fell significantly The election had been provoked by a vote of censure in Palmerston s government over his approach to the Arrow affair which led to the Second Opium War 1857 United Kingdom general election 1852 27 March 24 April 1857 1857 03 27 1857 04 24 1859 outgoing memberselected members All 654 seats in the House of Commons328 seats needed for a majority First party Second party Leader Viscount Palmerston Earl of DerbyParty Whig ConservativeLeader since 6 February 1855 July 1846Leader s seat Tiverton House of LordsLast election 324 seats 57 9 330 seats 41 9 Seats won 377 264 1 Seat change 53 66Popular vote 464 127 239 712Percentage 64 8 n 1 33 5 n 1 Swing 6 9 8 4 Colours denote the winning party as shown in ResultsPrime Minister before electionViscount PalmerstonWhig Prime Minister after election Viscount PalmerstonWhigThere is no separate tally of votes or seats for the Peelites They did not contest elections as an organised party but more as independent Free trade Conservatives with varying degrees of distance from the two main parties According to A J P Taylor The general election of 1857 is unique in our history the only election ever conducted as a simple plebiscite in favour of an individual Even the coupon election of 1918 claimed to be more than a plebiscite for Lloyd George even Disraeli and Gladstone offered a clash of policies as well as of personalities In 1857 there was no issue before the electorate except whether Palmerston should be Prime Minister and no one could pretend that Palmerston had any policy except to be himself 2 Contents 1 Results 1 1 Summary 1 2 Seats summary 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External linksResults edit nbsp UK General Election 1857Party Candidates VotesStood Elected Gained Unseated Net of total No Net Whig 507 377 53 57 65 64 77 464 127 7 0 Conservative 351 264 66 40 37 33 45 239 712 7 1 Independent Irish 13 1 99 1 69 12 099 Chartist 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 614 0 1Total votes cast 716 552 3 4 Summary edit Popular voteWhig 64 77 Conservative 33 45 Others 1 69 Chartist 0 09 Seats summary edit Parliamentary seatsWhig 57 65 Conservative 40 37 Others 1 99 See also editList of MPs elected in the 1857 United Kingdom general election 1857 United Kingdom general election in IrelandNotes edit a b 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 edit Including Peelites A J P Taylor Lord Palmerston History Today 1951 1 7 pp 35 41 at p 38 online Others are mostly Irish Independent Opposition The Conservative total votes cast and MPs includes around 26 Peelites some reference works claim it was as few as 18 Further reading editCraig F W S 1989 British Electoral Facts 1832 1987 Dartmouth Gower ISBN 0900178302 Rallings Colin Thrasher Michael eds 2000 British Electoral Facts 1832 1999 Ashgate Publishing LtdExternal links edit1857 General Election Spartacus Political Parties and Election Results Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1857 United Kingdom general election amp oldid 1176327251, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
