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United Kingdom general election, 1859

← 1857 28 April – 18 May 1859 (1859-04-28 – 1859-05-18) 1865 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 654 seats in the House of Commons 328 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Viscount Palmerston Earl of Derby Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 6 February 1855 July 1846 Leader's seat Tiverton House of Lords Last election 377 seats, 65.9% 264 seats, 34.0% Seats won 356 298 Seat change 21 34 Popular vote 372,117 193,232 Percentage 65.7% 34.3% Swing 0.2% 0.3%
Largest party in each constituent country
Prime Minister before election Earl of Derby Conservative Appointed Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston Whig

In the 1859 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, held their majority in the House of Commons over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives. This election is also considered to be the first to be contested by the Liberal Party—a name unofficially adopted to cover the alliance of Whigs, Peelites, Radicals and Irish Brigade who had previously voted against the Derby administration in the House of Commons that had led to the election. It was also the last general election entered by the Chartists, before their organisation was dissolved. As of 2018 this is the last election in which the Conservatives won the most seats in Wales,^[1] as well as being the last election to date in which the Conservative Party took less than a third of the vote in England.

The election was the quietest and least competitive between 1832 and 1885, with most county elections being uncontested. The election also saw the lowest number of candidates between 1832 and 1885, with Tory gains potentially being the result of a lack of opposition as much as a change in public opinion.^[2]

Results

Regional results

Great Britain

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Liberal	392	157	306		314,708	66.6
	Conservative & Peelites	327	160	245		157,974	33.4
	Chartist	1	0	0		151	0.0
Total		720	317	551		472,833	100

England

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Liberal	330	109	251		307,949	67.1
	Conservative & Peelite	286	129	209		152,591	32.9
	Chartist	1	0	0		151	0.0
Total		617	238	460		460,691	100

Scotland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Liberal	44	34	40		5,174	66.4
	Conservative & Peelite	17	11	13		2,616	33.6
Total		61	45	53		7,790	100

Wales

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative & Peelite	18	14	17		2,767	63.6
	Liberal	18	14	15		1,585	36.4
Total		36	28	32		4,352	100

Ireland

Universities

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative & Peelite	6	6	6
Total		6	6	6			100

References

Sources

External links

• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results