1886 United Kingdom general election

1886 United Kingdom general election

1–27 July 1886 (1886-07-01 – 1886-07-27)
All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   150x150px 150x150px 150x150px Leader Marquess of Salisbury William Ewart Gladstone Charles Stewart Parnell Party Conservative and Liberal Unionist Liberal Irish Parliamentary Leader since April 1881 April 1880 17 October 1882 Leader's seat House of Lords Midlothian Cork City Last election 247 seats, 43.4% 319 seats, 47.4% 86 seats, 6.9% Seats won 393 192 85 Seat change 146 127 1 Popular vote 1,417,627 1,244,683 94,050 Percentage 51.4% 45.1% 3.4% Swing 8.7% 2.2% 3.5%
380px Colours denote the winning party
Prime Minister before election William Ewart Gladstone Liberal Appointed Prime Minister Marquess of Salisbury Conservative

The 1886 United Kingdom general election took place from 1 July 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 gave the Conservatives their parliamentary majority but did not join them in a formal coalition.

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. This 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

↓ 

393	192	85
Conservative & Lib. Unionist	Liberal	IPP

UK General Election 1886
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist	563	393	161	14	+146	58.66	51.40	1,417,627	+8.7
	Liberal	449	192	24	152	−127	28.66	45.13	1,244,683	−2.2
	Irish Parliamentary	100	85	1	2	−1	12.69	3.41	94,050	−3.4
	Independent Liberal	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.05	1,247
	Ind. Liberal Unionist	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	544

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

• List of MPs elected in the 1886 United Kingdom general election
• Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918

External links

• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
• United Kingdom election results—summary results 1885–1979