The 1885 United Kingdom general election was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885. This was the first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats. For the first time a majority of adult males could vote and most constituencies by law returned a single member to Parliament, fulfilling one of the ideals of Chartism to provide direct single-member, single-electorate accountability. It saw the Liberals, led by William Gladstone, win the most seats, but not an overall majority. As the Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between them and the Conservatives who sat with an increasing number of allied Unionist MPs (referring to the Union of Great Britain and Ireland), this exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and led to a Liberal split and another general election the following year.
Roberts, Matthew. "Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England.' Cultural & Social History (2013) 10#3 pp 369–395, covers 1860 to 1890.
Walker, Brian (2005), "The 1885 and 1886 General Elections in Ireland", History Ireland, 13 (6): 36–40, JSTOR 27725365
External links
Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979 30 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine
January 26, 2023
1885, united, kingdom, general, election, held, from, november, december, 1885, this, first, general, election, after, extension, franchise, redistribution, seats, first, time, majority, adult, males, could, vote, most, constituencies, returned, single, member. The 1885 United Kingdom general election was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885 This was the first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats For the first time a majority of adult males could vote and most constituencies by law returned a single member to Parliament fulfilling one of the ideals of Chartism to provide direct single member single electorate accountability It saw the Liberals led by William Gladstone win the most seats but not an overall majority As the Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between them and the Conservatives who sat with an increasing number of allied Unionist MPs referring to the Union of Great Britain and Ireland this exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and led to a Liberal split and another general election the following year 1885 United Kingdom general election 1880 24 November 18 December 1885 1885 11 24 1885 12 18 1886 outgoing memberselected members All 670 seats in the House of Commons336 seats needed for a majority First party Second party Third party Leader William Gladstone Marquess of Salisbury Charles Stewart ParnellParty Liberal Conservative Irish ParliamentaryLast election 352 seats 52 5 237 seats 35 4 63 seats 9 4 Seats won 319 247 86Seat change 33 10 23Popular vote 2 071 868 1 869 560 299 178Percentage 47 7 43 0 6 9 Swing 7 0 0 5 4 1 Colours denote the winning partyPrime Minister before electionMarquess of SalisburyConservative Prime Minister after election William GladstoneLiberalThe 1885 election saw the first socialist party participate with the Social Democratic Federation led by H M Hyndman standing three candidates Contents 1 Results 2 Voting summary 3 Seats summary 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksResults Edit 319 86 247 11 7Liberal IPP Conservative IL UK General Election 1885Party Candidates VotesStood Elected Gained Unseated Net of total No Net Liberal 575 319 33 47 61 47 65 2 071 868 7 3 Conservative 597 247 10 36 87 43 00 1 869 560 0 9 Irish Parliamentary 91 86 23 12 84 6 88 299 178 4 0 Independent Liberal 35 11 11 1 64 1 28 55 652 N A Crofters 6 4 4 0 60 0 38 16 551 N A Ind Conservative 8 2 2 0 30 0 29 12 599 N A Lib Lab 4 1 1 0 15 0 19 8 232 N A Independent 6 0 0 0 0 15 6 570 N A Independent Nationalist 2 0 0 0 0 07 2 889 N A Scottish Land Restoration 5 0 0 0 0 05 2 359 N A Irish Loyalist 6 0 0 0 0 04 1 869 N A Social Democratic Federation 3 0 0 0 0 02 657 N ATotal votes cast 4 347 984 1 Voting summary EditPopular voteLiberal 47 65 Conservative 43 00 Irish Parliamentary 6 88 Independent Liberal 1 28 Crofters 0 38 Independent Conservative 0 29 Lib Lab 0 19 Independent 0 15 Others 0 18 Seats summary EditParliamentary seatsLiberal 47 61 Conservative 36 87 Irish Parliamentary 12 84 Independent Liberal 1 64 Crofters 0 60 Independent Conservative 0 30 Lib Lab 0 15 See also EditList of MPs elected in the 1885 United Kingdom general election Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885 1918 Representation of the People Act 1884 Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 1885 United Kingdom general election in Ireland 1885 United Kingdom general election in Scotland Hawarden Kite Gladstone announces for Home Rule and wins over the IrishNotes Edit All parties shown References 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 LtdFurther reading EditRoberts Matthew Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England Cultural amp Social History 2013 10 3 pp 369 395 covers 1860 to 1890 Walker Brian 2005 The 1885 and 1886 General Elections in Ireland History Ireland 13 6 36 40 JSTOR 27725365External links EditSpartacus Political Parties and Election Results United Kingdom election results summary results 1885 1979 Archived 30 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1885 United Kingdom general election amp oldid 1127260323, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
