1886 United Kingdom general election

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1886 United Kingdom general election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1885 1–27 July 1886 (1886-07-01 1886-07-27) 1892  

All 670 seats in the House of Commons
336 seats needed for a majority
Turnout74.2%
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg William Ewart Gladstone, 1892 (cropped).jpg Charles Stewart Parnell - Brady-Handy.jpg
Leader Marquess of Salisbury William Ewart Gladstone Charles Stewart Parnell
Party Conservative and Liberal Unionist Liberal Irish Parliamentary
Leader sinceApril 1881April 188017 October 1882
Leader's seat House of Lords Midlothian Cork City
Last election247 seats, 43.4%319 seats, 47.4%86 seats, 6.9%
Seats won39319285
Seat changeIncrease2.svg146Decrease2.svg127Decrease2.svg1
Popular vote1,417,6271,244,68394,050
Percentage51.4%45.1%3.4%
SwingIncrease2.svg8.7%Decrease2.svg2.2%Decrease2.svg3.5%

United Kingdom general election 1886.svg
Colours denote the winning party

Prime Minister before election

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative

The 1886 United Kingdom general election took place from 1 to 27 July 1886, following the defeat of the Government of Ireland Bill 1886. It resulted in a major reversal of the results of the 1885 election as the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, were joined in an electoral pact with the breakaway Unionist wing of the Liberals led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain. The new Liberal Unionist party elected 77 members and gave the Conservatives their parliamentary majority, but did not join them in a formal coalition.

Contents

William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals, who supported the Irish Home Rule movement, and their sometimes allies the Irish Parliamentary Party, led by Charles Stewart Parnell, were placed a distant second. The split in the Liberal Party ended the period of Liberal dominance. They had held power for 18 of the 27 years since 1859 and won five of the six elections held during that time, but would only be in power for three of the next nineteen years. This was also the first election since the 1841 election that the Conservatives won a plurality or majority of the popular vote.

Results

1886 UK parliament.svg
UK General Election 1886
CandidatesVotes
PartyLeaderStoodElectedGainedUnseatedNet % of total %No.Net %
  Conservative and Liberal Unionist Lord Salisbury56339316114+14658.6651.401,417,627+8.7
  Liberal William Ewart Gladstone4491922415212728.6645.131,244,6832.2
  Irish Parliamentary Charles Stewart Parnell10085 1 2112.693.4194,0503.4
  Independent Liberal N/A 1 000000.051,247
  Ind. Liberal Unionist N/A2000000.02544

Vote summary

Popular vote
Conservative and Liberal Unionist
51.40%
Liberal
45.13%
Irish Parliamentary
3.41%
Independent Liberal
0.05%
Independent Liberal Unionist
0.02%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Conservative and Liberal Unionist
58.66%
Liberal
28.66%
Irish Parliamentary
12.69%

See also

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References

Further reading

References

  1. "General Election Results 1885-1979". Archived from the original on 30 January 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2023.