1859 United Kingdom general election

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| ← 1857 | 28 April – 18 May 1859 (1859-04-28 – 1859-05-18) | 1865 →

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← outgoing members

elected members →

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All 654 seats in the House of Commons
328 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 565,500
|   | 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, 64.8%  | 264 seats, 33.5%
Seats won  | 356[a] | 298
Seat change  | 21  | 34
Popular vote  | 372,117 | 193,232
Percentage  | 65.8% | 34.2%
Swing  | 1.0 pp | 0.7 pp

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Results by constituency

Results by country

Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results

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Composition of the House of Commons after the election

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| Prime Minister before election

Earl of Derby
Conservative

| Prime Minister after election

Viscount Palmerston
Whig

|

The 1859 United Kingdom general election was held from 28 April to 18 May 1859 following the defeat of Prime Minister the Earl of Derby's Conservative government in a vote of confidence. The newly formed Liberal Party, led by Viscount Palmerston, secured victory despite winning fewer seats than in the previous election.

There is no separate tally of votes or seats for the Peelites. They did not contest elections as an organised party but more as independent Free trade Conservatives with varying degrees of distance from the two main parties.

It was also the last general election entered by the Chartists, before their organisation was dissolved. As of 2025[update], this is the last election in which the Conservatives won the most seats in Wales.[1]

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] According to A. J. P. Taylor:

the government which Palmerston organized in June 1859 was a coalition of a different kind: not a coalition of groups which looked back to the past, but a coalition which anticipated the future. Had it not been for Palmerston himself—too individual, too full of personality to be fitted into a party-pattern—it would have been the first Liberal government in our history. Everything that was important in it was Liberal—finance, administrative reform, its very composition: the first government with unmistakable middle-class Free Traders as members.[3]

* 1852 election
* MPs

* 1857 election
* MPs

* 1859 election
* MPs

* 1865 election
* MPs

* 1868 election
* MPs

## Results

[edit]

1859 United Kingdom general election

Party  | Candidates  | Votes
Stood  | Elected  | Gained  | Unseated  | Net  | % of total  | %  | No. | Net %
| Liberal | 465  | 356[a] |  |  | −21  | 54.43  | 65.80  | 372,117  | −0.2
| Conservative | 394  | 298  |  |  | +34  | 45.57  | 34.17  | 193,232  | +0.3
| Chartist | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0.03  | 151  | −0.1

Total votes cast: 565,500.

### Voting summary

[edit]

| Popular vote

|  |
Liberal |

| 65.80%
Conservative |

| 34.17%
Chartist |

| 0.09%

### Seats summary

[edit]

| Parliamentary seats

|  |
Liberal |

| 54.43%
Conservative |

| 45.57%

### Regional results

[edit]

#### Great Britain

[edit]

Party  | Candidates  | Unopposed  | Seats  | Seats change  | Votes  | %  | % change

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|
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| 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

[edit]

Party  | Candidates  | Unopposed  | Seats  | Seats change  | Votes  | %  | % change

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| 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

[edit]

Party  | Candidates  | Unopposed  | Seats  | Seats change  | Votes  | %  | % change

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| 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

[edit]

Party  | Candidates  | Unopposed  | Seats  | Seats change  | Votes  | %  | % change

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| 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

[edit]

Main article: 1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland

Party  | Candidates  | Unopposed  | Seats  | Seats change  | Votes  | %  | % change

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| Irish Conservative & Peelite | 67  | 36  | 53  |  | 35,258  | 38.9  |
| Liberal | 73  | 26  | 50  |  | 57,409  | 61.1  |
Total  | 140  | 62  | 103  |  | 92,667  | 100  |

#### Universities

[edit]

Party  | Candidates  | Unopposed  | Seats  | Seats change  | Votes  | %  | % change

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| Conservative & Peelite | 6  | 6  | 6  |  |  |  |
Total  | 6  | 6  | 6  |  |  | 100  |

## See also

[edit]

* List of MPs elected in the 1859 United Kingdom general election
* 1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Scully, Roger (4 May 2017). "Why Wales decided to forgive the Tories". The Spectator. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
2. ^ Hawkins, A. (18 June 1987), Parliament, Party and the Art of Politics in Britain, 1855–59, p. 377, ISBN 9781349089253
3. ^ A. J. P. Taylor "Lord Palmerston", History Today (1951) 1#7 pp 35-41 at p. 39

### Sources

[edit]

* Craig, 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 Ltd

## External links

[edit]

* Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results

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