1857 United Kingdom general election

1857 United Kingdom general election

27 March – 24 April 1857 (1857-03-27 – 1857-04-24)
All 654 seats in the House of Commons 328 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   160x160px Leader Viscount Palmerston Earl of Derby Party Whig Conservative Leader since 6 February 1855 July 1846 Leader's seat Tiverton House of Lords Last election 324 seats, 57.9% 330 seats, 41.9% Seats won 377 264 Seat change 53 66 Popular vote 464,127 239,712 Percentage 64.8% 33.5% Swing 6.9% 8.4%
438px Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results
Prime Minister before election Viscount Palmerston Whig Appointed Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston Whig

In the 1857 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, won a majority in the House of Commons as the Conservative vote fell significantly. The election had been provoked by a vote of censure in Palmerston's government over his approach to the Arrow affair which led to the Second Opium War. Aged 72 Palmerston became the oldest person to win a general election for the first time. As of 2019 there has been no person as old as Palmerston to win a general election for the first time.

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.

Results

UK General Election 1857
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Whig	507	377			+53	57.65	64.77	464,127	+7.0
	Conservative	351	264			−66	40.37	33.45	239,712	−7.1
	Chartist	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	614	−0.1

Total votes cast: 716,552.

Summary

Popular vote
Whig			64.77%
Conservative			33.45%
Others			1.69%
Chartist			0.09%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Whig			57.65%
Conservative			40.37%
Others			1.99%

External links

• 1857 General Election
  • Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results