United Kingdom general election, 1835

United Kingdom general election, 1835

6 January–6 February 1835

All 658 seats in the House of Commons 330 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader The Viscount Melbourne Robert Peel Party Whig Conservative Leader since 16 July 1834 19 December 1834 Last election 441 seats, 67.0% 175 seats, 29.2% Seats won 385 273 Seat change 56 98 Popular vote 349,868 261,269 Percentage 57.3% 42.8% Swing 9.7% 13.6%

PM before election Robert Peel Conservative Subsequent PM Robert Peel Conservative

The 1835 United Kingdom general election was called when Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. Polling took place between 6 January and 6 February 1835, and the results saw Robert Peel's Conservatives make large gains from their low of the 1832 election, but the Whigs maintained a large majority.

Under the terms of the Lichfield House Compact the Whigs had entered into an electoral pact with the Irish Repeal Association of Daniel O'Connell, which had contested the previous election as a separate party. The Radicals were also included in this alliance.

Results

United Kingdom General Election 1835
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Whig	538	385			56		57.25	349,868	9.7
	Conservative	407	273			98		42.75	261,269	13.6

Total votes cast: 611,137

Voting summary

Seats summary

Regional Results

Great Britain

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Whig	451	126	317	91	315,002	57.2	13.9
	Conservative	338	102	238	91	235,907	42.8	13.9
Total		789	228	555		550,909	100

England

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Whig	380	100	264	83	281,576	57.4	13.4
	Conservative	278	77	200	84	209,964	42.6	13.4
Total		658	177	464		491,540	100

Scotland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Whig	52	15	38	5	28,307	62.8	16.2
	Conservative	33	8	15	5	15,733	37.2	16.2
Total		85	23	53		44,040	100

Wales

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Conservative	21	11	17	3	10,210	63.9	10.5
	Whig	19	11	15	3	5,119	36.1	10.5
Total		40	22	32		15,329	100

Ireland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Whig/Repeal Coalition	87	28	68	7*	34,866	57.6	10.3*
	Conservative	69	19	35	7	25,362	42.4	10.3
Total		156	47	103		60,228	100

*Coalition parties had won a total of 75 seats and 67.9% of the vote in 1832.

Universities

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Conservative	6	6	6		Uncontested
Total		6	6	6		None	100

Dates of election

The eleventh United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 29 December 1834. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 19 February 1835, for a maximum seven year term from that date. The maximum term could be and normally was curtailed, by the monarch dissolving the Parliament, before its term expired.

At this period there was not one election day. After receiving a writ (a royal command) for the election to be held, the local returning officer fixed the election timetable for the particular constituency or constituencies he was concerned with. Polling in seats with contested elections could continue for many days.

The general election took place between January and February 1835. The first nomination was on 5 January, with the first contest on 6 January and the last contest on 6 February 1835. It was usual for polling in the University constituencies and in Orkney and Shetland to take place about a week after other seats. Disregarding contests in the Universities and Orkney and Shetland, the last poll was on 27 January 1835.

Peel ran a minority Conservative government until 8 April 1835, after being unable to form a majority. Melbourne subsequently became Prime Minister forming a Whig government.

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000)
• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978).
• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results