Liberals secured one of their largest-ever majorities, leaving the Conservatives a distant second. As a result of the campaign, the Liberal Commons leader, Lord Hartington and that in the Lords, Lord Granville, stood back in favour of Gladstone, who thus became Prime Minister a second time. It was the last general election in which any party other than the Conservatives won a majority of the votes (rather than a plurality).
A painting by Alfred George Palmer of election night outside Exeter Guildhall in the collection of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum (333/1997).
The Conservative government was doomed by the poor condition of the British economy and the vulnerability of its foreign policy to moralistic attacks by the Liberals. William Gladstone, appealing to moralistic evangelicals, led the attack on the foreign policy of Benjamin Disraeli (now known as Lord Beaconsfield) as immoral.[3] Historian Paul Smith paraphrases the rhetorical tone which focused on attacking "Beaconsfieldism" (in Smith's words) as a:
Sinister system of policy, which not merely involved the country in immoral, vainglorious and expensive external adventures, inimical to peace and to the rights of small peoples, but aimed at nothing less than the subversion of parliamentary government in favour of some simulacrum of the oriental despotism its creator was alleged to admire.[4]
Smith notes that there was indeed some substance to the allegations, but: "Most of this was partisan extravaganza, worthy of its target's own excursions against the Whigs."[5]
Disraeli himself was now the Earl of Beaconsfield in the House of Lords, and custom did not allow peers to campaign; this denuded the Conservatives of other important figures such as the Marquess of Salisbury and Lord Cranbrook, and the party was unable to deal effectively with the rhetorical onslaught.[6] Although he had improved the organisation of the Conservative Party, Disraeli was firmly based in the rural gentry, and had little contact with or understanding of the urban middle class that was increasingly dominating his party.
Besides their trouble with foreign policy issues, it was even more important that the Conservatives were unable to effectively defend their economic record on the home front. The 1870s coincided with a long-term global depression caused by the collapse of the worldwide railway boom of the 1870s which previously had been so profitable to Britain. The stress was growing by the late 1870s; prices fell, profits fell, employment fell, and there was downward pressure on wage rates that caused much hardship among the industrial working class. The free trade system supported by both parties made Britain defenceless against the flood of cheap wheat from North America, which was exacerbated by the worst harvest of the century in Britain in 1879. The party in power got the blame, and Liberals repeatedly emphasised the growing budget deficit as a measure of bad stewardship. In the election itself, Disraeli's party lost heavily up and down the line, especially in Scotland and Ireland, and in the urban boroughs. His Conservative strength fell from 351 to 238, while the Liberals jumped from 250 to 353. Disraeli resigned on 21 April 1880.[7]
Fitzsimons, M. A. (1960), "Midlothian: the Triumph and Frustration of the British Liberal Party", Review of Politics, 22 (2): 187–201, doi:10.1017/S0034670500008202, JSTOR 1405317, S2CID 144807807
Lloyd, T.O. "The General Election of 1880 (Oxford UP, 1967)
Roberts, Matthew. "Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England.' Cultural & Social History (2013) 10#3 pp 369–395, covers 1860 to 1890.
1880, united, kingdom, general, election, general, election, united, kingdom, held, from, march, april, 1880, 1874, march, april, 1880, 1880, 1880, 1885, outgoing, memberselected, members, seats, house, commons327, seats, needed, majority, first, party, second. The 1880 United Kingdom general election was a general election in the United Kingdom held from 31 March to 27 April 1880 1880 United Kingdom general election 1874 31 March 27 April 1880 1880 03 31 1880 04 27 1 1885 outgoing memberselected members All 652 seats in the House of Commons327 seats needed for a majority First party Second party Third party Leader Marquess of Hartington Earl of Beaconsfield William Shaw Party Liberal Conservative Home Rule Leader since January 1875 27 February 1868 May 1879 Leader s seat North East Lancashire House of Lords County Cork Last election 242 seats 52 0 350 seats 44 3 60 seats 3 7 Seats won 352 237 63 Seat change 110 113 3 Popular vote 1 836 423 1 426 349 95 528 Percentage 54 7 42 5 2 8 Swing 2 7 1 8 0 9 Colours denote the winning partyPrime Minister before election Earl of Beaconsfield Conservative Prime Minister after the election William Gladstone Liberal Its intense rhetoric was led by the Midlothian campaign of the Liberals particularly the fierce oratory of Liberal leader William Gladstone 2 He vehemently attacked the foreign policy of the government of Benjamin Disraeli Earl of Beaconsfield as utterly immoral Liberals secured one of their largest ever majorities leaving the Conservatives a distant second As a result of the campaign the Liberal Commons leader Lord Hartington and that in the Lords Lord Granville stood back in favour of Gladstone who thus became Prime Minister a second time It was the last general election in which any party other than the Conservatives won a majority of the votes rather than a plurality Contents 1 Issues 2 Results 2 1 Voting summary 2 2 Seats summary 3 Regional results 3 1 Great Britain 3 1 1 England 3 1 2 Scotland 3 1 3 Wales 3 1 4 Ireland 3 1 5 Universities 4 See also 5 References 6 Sources and further reading 7 External linksIssues edit nbsp A painting by Alfred George Palmer of election night outside Exeter Guildhall in the collection of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum 333 1997 The Conservative government was doomed by the poor condition of the British economy and the vulnerability of its foreign policy to moralistic attacks by the Liberals William Gladstone appealing to moralistic evangelicals led the attack on the foreign policy of Benjamin Disraeli now known as Lord Beaconsfield as immoral 3 Historian Paul Smith paraphrases the rhetorical tone which focused on attacking Beaconsfieldism in Smith s words as a Sinister system of policy which not merely involved the country in immoral vainglorious and expensive external adventures inimical to peace and to the rights of small peoples but aimed at nothing less than the subversion of parliamentary government in favour of some simulacrum of the oriental despotism its creator was alleged to admire 4 Smith notes that there was indeed some substance to the allegations but Most of this was partisan extravaganza worthy of its target s own excursions against the Whigs 5 nbsp Crowds wait outside Leeds Town Hall to hear the result Disraeli himself was now the Earl of Beaconsfield in the House of Lords and custom did not allow peers to campaign this denuded the Conservatives of other important figures such as the Marquess of Salisbury and Lord Cranbrook and the party was unable to deal effectively with the rhetorical onslaught 6 Although he had improved the organisation of the Conservative Party Disraeli was firmly based in the rural gentry and had little contact with or understanding of the urban middle class that was increasingly dominating his party Besides their trouble with foreign policy issues it was even more important that the Conservatives were unable to effectively defend their economic record on the home front The 1870s coincided with a long term global depression caused by the collapse of the worldwide railway boom of the 1870s which previously had been so profitable to Britain The stress was growing by the late 1870s prices fell profits fell employment fell and there was downward pressure on wage rates that caused much hardship among the industrial working class The free trade system supported by both parties made Britain defenceless against the flood of cheap wheat from North America which was exacerbated by the worst harvest of the century in Britain in 1879 The party in power got the blame and Liberals repeatedly emphasised the growing budget deficit as a measure of bad stewardship In the election itself Disraeli s party lost heavily up and down the line especially in Scotland and Ireland and in the urban boroughs His Conservative strength fell from 351 to 238 while the Liberals jumped from 250 to 353 Disraeli resigned on 21 April 1880 7 Results edit nbsp UK General Election 1880 Party Candidates Votes Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net of total No Net Liberal 499 352 132 22 110 53 99 54 66 1 836 423 2 7 Conservative 521 237 20 133 113 36 35 42 46 1 426 351 1 8 Home Rule 81 63 6 3 3 9 66 2 84 95 535 0 9 Independent 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 03 1 107 0 Total votes cast 3 359 416 Voting summary edit Popular vote Liberal 54 66 Conservative 42 46 Home Rule 2 84 Others 0 03 Seats summary edit Parliamentary seats Liberal 53 99 Conservative 36 35 Home Rule 9 66 Regional results editGreat Britain edit nbsp Largest party in each constituent country Party Seats Seats change Votes change Liberal 334 nbsp 104 1 780 171 57 3 nbsp 1 9 Lib Lab 3 nbsp 1 Conservative 214 nbsp 105 1 326 744 42 7 nbsp 1 9 Other 0 nbsp 1 107 0 04 nbsp 0 04 Total 551 nbsp 3 108 022 100 England edit Party Seats Seats change Votes change Liberal 251 nbsp 82 1 519 576 56 2 nbsp 2 4 Lib Lab 3 nbsp 1 Conservative 197 nbsp 83 1 205 990 43 7 nbsp 2 5 Other 0 nbsp 1 107 0 1 nbsp 0 1 Total 451 2 726 673 100 Scotland edit Main article United Kingdom general election 1880 Scotland Party Seats Seats change Votes change Liberal 52 nbsp 12 195 517 70 1 nbsp 1 7 Conservative 6 nbsp 12 74 145 29 9 nbsp 1 7 Total 58 269 662 100 Wales edit Party Seats Seats change Votes change Liberal 29 nbsp 10 50 403 58 8 nbsp 2 1 Conservative 4 nbsp 10 41 106 41 2 nbsp 2 1 Total 33 100 509 100 Ireland edit Main article United Kingdom general election 1880 Ireland Party Seats Seats change Votes change Home Rule 63 nbsp 3 95 535 37 5 nbsp 2 1 Irish Conservative 23 nbsp 8 99 607 39 8 nbsp 1 0 Liberal 15 nbsp 5 56 252 22 7 nbsp 4 3 Total 101 251 394 100 Universities edit Party Seats Seats change Votes change Conservative 7 5 503 49 2 Liberal 2 5 675 50 8 Total 9 11 178 100See also editList of MPs elected in the 1880 United Kingdom general election 1880 United Kingdom general election in Ireland 1880 United Kingdom general election in ScotlandReferences edit Data PDF parliament uk Fitzsimons 1960 pp 187 201 Matthew 1997 pp 293 312 Smith 1996 pp 198 99 Smith 1996 p 199 Roberts Andrew 2000 Salisbury Victorian Titan London Phoenix p 238 ISBN 0 75381 091 3 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint date and year link Smith 1996 pp 202 3 Blake 1967 pp 707 13 717 Sources and further reading editBlake Robert 1967 Disraeli EA London ISBN 978 1 84413 312 3 Chilston Viscount The 1880 Election A Historical Landmark Parliamentary Affairs 14 June 1961 477 492 Craig F W S 1989 British Electoral Facts 1832 1987 Dartmouth Gower ISBN 0900178302 Fitzsimons M A 1960 Midlothian the Triumph and Frustration of the British Liberal Party Review of Politics 22 2 187 201 doi 10 1017 S0034670500008202 JSTOR 1405317 S2CID 144807807 Lloyd T O The General Election of 1880 Oxford UP 1967 Matthew H C G 1997 Gladstone 1809 1898 Clarendon Press ISBN 0 19 820696 8 Rallings Colin Thrasher Michael eds 2000 British Electoral Facts 1832 1999 Ashgate Publishing Ltd Roberts Matthew Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England Cultural amp Social History 2013 10 3 pp 369 395 covers 1860 to 1890 Smith Paul 1996 Disraeli A Brief Life Cambridge UP ISBN 9780521381505External links editSpartacus Political Parties and Election Results Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1880 United Kingdom general election amp oldid 1205542013, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
