United Kingdom general election, 1868

United Kingdom general election, 1868
United Kingdom
17 November7 December 1868

All 658 seats to the House of Commons
327 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader William Ewart Gladstone Benjamin Disraeli
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 3 December 1868 27 February 1868
Leader's seat Greenwich Buckinghamshire
Last election 369 seats, 59.5% 289 seats, 40.5%
Seats won 387 271
Seat change Increase 18 Decrease 18
Popular vote 1,428,776 903,318
Percentage 61.5% 38.4%
Swing Increase 2.0% Decrease 2.1%

PM before election

Benjamin Disraeli
Conservative

Subsequent PM

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal

1859 election MPs
1865 election MPs
1868 election MPs
1874 election MPs
1880 election MPs

The 1868 United Kingdom general election was the first after passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom. It was the first election held in the United Kingdom in which more than a million votes were cast; nearly triple the number of votes were cast compared to the previous election.

The result saw the Liberals, led by William Ewart Gladstone, again increase their large majority over Benjamin Disraeli's Conservatives to more than 100 seats.

This was the last election at which all the seats were taken by only the two leading parties, although the parties at the time were loose coalitions and party affiliation was not listed on ballot papers.

Results

387 271
Liberal Conservative
UK General Election 1868
Candidates Votes
Party Standing Elected Gained Unseated Net % of total % Net %
  Liberal 600 387 + 18 58.8 61.5 1,428,776 + 2.0
  Conservative 436 271 - 18 41.2 38.4 903,318 - 2.1
  Others 3 0 0 0 0 0.1 1,157 N/A

Total votes cast: 2,333,251

Voting summary

Popular vote
Liberal
 
61.5%
Conservative
 
38.4%
Others
 
0.1%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Liberal
 
58.8%
Conservative
 
41.2%
Others
 
0.0%

Regional Results

Great Britain

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Liberal 515 80 321 1,374,315 61.4
Conservative 383 65 234 864,551 38.6
Others 1 0 0 969 0.0
Total 899 145 555 2,239,835 100
England
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Liberal 412 46 244 Increase 1,192,098 59.7 Increase
Conservative 334 54 211 803,637 40.2
Others 1 0 0 969 0.1
Total 747 100 455 1,996,704 100
Scotland
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Liberal 70 23 51 125,356 82.5
Conservative 20 3 7 23,985 17.5
Total 90 26 58 Steady 149,341 100
Wales
Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Liberal 29 10 23 52,256 62.1
Conservative 20 4 10 29,866 37.9
Total 49 14 33 Steady 82,122 100

Ireland

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Liberal 85 41 66 Increase8 54,461 57.9 Increase2.3
Conservative 53 26 37 Decrease8 38,765 41.9 Decrease2.5
Others 2 0 0 Steady 188 0.2 Increase0.2
Total 140 67 103 Steady 149,341 100

Universities

Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % Change
Conservative 9 4 6 7,063 55.4
Liberal 4 1 3 4,605 44.6
Total 13 5 9 11,668 100

References

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