The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.
Palmerston died in October the same year and was succeeded by Lord John Russell as Prime Minister.[1] Despite the Liberal majority, the party was divided by the issue of further parliamentary reform, and Russell resigned after being defeated in a vote in the House of Commons in 1866, leading to minority Conservative governments under Derby and then Benjamin Disraeli.
This was the last United Kingdom general election until 2019 where a party increased its majority after having been returned to office at the previous election with a reduced majority.
The 1865 general election was regarded by contemporaries as being a generally dull contest nationally, which exaggerated the degree of corruption within individual constituencies. In his PhD thesis, Cornelius O'Leary described The Times as having reported "the testimony is unanimous that in the General Election of 1865 there was more profuse and corrupt expenditure than was ever known before".[2] As a result of allegations of corruption, 50 election petitions were lodged, of which 35 were pressed to a trial; 13 ended with the elected MP being unseated. In four cases a Royal Commission had to be appointed because of widespread corrupt practices in the constituency.[3]
Crewe, Ivor (2006), "New Labour's Hegemony: Extension or Erosion?", in Bartle, John; King, Anthony (eds.), Britain at the Polls 2005, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, p. 204
Everett, Jason M., ed. (2006), "1865", The People's Chronology, Thomson Gale, archived from the original on 6 August 2007, retrieved 12 May 2007
Kelly, Richard; Hamlyn, Matthew (2013), "The Law and Conduct of MPs", in Horne, Alexander; Drewry, Gavin; Oliver, Dawn (eds.), Parliament and the Law, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN978-1-7822-5258-0
Roberts, Matthew. "Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England" Cultural & Social History (2013) 10#3 pp 369–395, covers 1860 to 1890.
External links
Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
May 06, 2023
1865, united, kingdom, general, election, liberals, lord, palmerston, increase, their, large, majority, over, earl, derby, conservatives, whig, party, changed, name, liberal, party, between, previous, election, this, 1859, july, 1865, 1865, 1865, 1868, outgoin. The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals led by Lord Palmerston increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby s Conservatives to 80 The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one 1865 United Kingdom general election 1859 11 24 July 1865 1865 07 11 1865 07 24 1868 outgoing memberselected members All 658 seats in the House of Commons330 seats needed for a majority First party Second party Leader Viscount Palmerston Earl of DerbyParty Liberal ConservativeLeader since 12 June 1859 July 1846Leader s seat Tiverton House of LordsLast election 356 seats 65 8 298 seats 34 2 Seats won 369 289Seat change 13 9Popular vote 508 821 346 035Percentage 59 5 40 5 Swing 6 3 6 3 Colours denote the winning party as shown in ResultsPrime Minister before electionViscount PalmerstonLiberal Prime Minister after election Viscount PalmerstonLiberalPalmerston died in October the same year and was succeeded by Lord John Russell as Prime Minister 1 Despite the Liberal majority the party was divided by the issue of further parliamentary reform and Russell resigned after being defeated in a vote in the House of Commons in 1866 leading to minority Conservative governments under Derby and then Benjamin Disraeli This was the last United Kingdom general election until 2019 where a party increased its majority after having been returned to office at the previous election with a reduced majority Contents 1 Corruption 2 Constituencies 3 Results 3 1 Regional results 3 1 1 Great Britain 3 1 1 1 England 3 1 1 2 Scotland 3 1 1 3 Wales 3 1 2 Ireland 3 1 3 Universities 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources and further reading 7 External linksCorruption EditThe 1865 general election was regarded by contemporaries as being a generally dull contest nationally which exaggerated the degree of corruption within individual constituencies In his PhD thesis Cornelius O Leary described The Times as having reported the testimony is unanimous that in the General Election of 1865 there was more profuse and corrupt expenditure than was ever known before 2 As a result of allegations of corruption 50 election petitions were lodged of which 35 were pressed to a trial 13 ended with the elected MP being unseated In four cases a Royal Commission had to be appointed because of widespread corrupt practices in the constituency 3 As a result when he became Prime Minister in 1867 Benjamin Disraeli announced that he would introduce a new method for election petition trials which were then determined by a committee of the House of Commons resulting in the Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 whereby two Judges of the Court of Common Pleas Exchequer of Pleas or Queen s Bench would be designated to try election petitions with full judicial salaries 3 Constituencies EditMany new constituencies were used for this election Northern West Riding of Yorkshire Southern West Riding of YorkshireResults EditMain article List of MPs elected in the 1865 United Kingdom general election 369 289Liberal ConservativeUK General Election 1865Party Candidates VotesStood Elected Gained Unseated Net of total No Net Liberal 516 369 13 56 08 59 52 508 821 6 2 Conservative 406 289 9 43 92 40 48 346 035 6 2Total 658 4 100 100 854 856Regional results Edit Great Britain Edit Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes changeLiberal 433 133 311 5 457 289 60 0Conservative 347 115 244 1 304 538 40 0Total 780 248 555 761 827 100England Edit Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes changeLiberal 359 88 251 406 978 59 0Conservative 308 94 213 4 291 238 41 0Total 667 182 464 4 698 216 100Scotland Edit Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes changeLiberal 51 30 42 2 43 480 85 4Conservative 17 7 11 2 4 305 14 6Total 68 37 53 47 785 100Wales Edit Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes changeLiberal 21 15 18 3 4 565 74 0Conservative 16 12 14 3 1 600 26 0Total 37 27 32 6 165 100Ireland Edit Main article United Kingdom general election 1865 Ireland Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes changeLiberal 83 28 58 8 51 532 55 6Conservative 59 27 45 8 41 497 44 4Total 142 55 103 93 029 100Universities Edit Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes changeConservative 6 2 6 7 395 76 5Liberal 2 0 0 2 266 23 5Total 8 2 6 9 661 100Source Rallings amp Thrasher 2012 pp 8 9See also EditList of MPs elected in the 1865 United Kingdom general election 1865 United Kingdom general election in IrelandReferences Edit Everett 2006 Kelly amp Hamlyn 2013 p 93 a b O Leary 1962 pp 27 28 39 Sources and further reading EditCraig F W S 1989 British Electoral Facts 1832 1987 Dartmouth Gower ISBN 0900178302 Crewe Ivor 2006 New Labour s Hegemony Extension or Erosion in Bartle John King Anthony eds Britain at the Polls 2005 Washington D C CQ Press p 204 Everett Jason M ed 2006 1865 The People s Chronology Thomson Gale archived from the original on 6 August 2007 retrieved 12 May 2007 Kelly Richard Hamlyn Matthew 2013 The Law and Conduct of MPs in Horne Alexander Drewry Gavin Oliver Dawn eds Parliament and the Law Bloomsbury Publishing ISBN 978 1 7822 5258 0 O Leary Cornelius 1962 The Elimination of Corrupt Practices in British Elections 1868 1911 Oxford Oxford University Press Rallings Colin Thrasher Michael eds 2000 British Electoral Facts 1832 1999 Ashgate Publishing Ltd Rallings Colin Thrasher Michael eds 2012 British Electoral Facts 1832 2012 London Biteback ISBN 978 1 84954 134 3 Roberts Matthew Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England Cultural amp Social History 2013 10 3 pp 369 395 covers 1860 to 1890 External links EditSpartacus Political Parties and Election Results Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1865 United Kingdom general election amp oldid 1122066478, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
