United Kingdom general election, 1874

United Kingdom general election, 1874

1868 ← members 31 January–17 February 1874 → 1880 members

All 652 seats to the House of Commons 327 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Benjamin Disraeli William Ewart Gladstone Isaac Butt Party Conservative Liberal Home Rule Leader since 27 February 1868 3 December 1868 November 1873 Leader's seat Buckinghamshire Greenwich Limerick Last election 271 seats, 38.4% 387 seats, 61.5% N/A Seats won 350 242 60 Seat change 79 145 N/A Popular vote 1,091,708 1,281,159 90,234 Percentage 44.3% 52.0% 3.7% Swing 5.9% 9.5% N/A

PM before election William Ewart Gladstone Liberal Subsequent PM Benjamin Disraeli Conservative

1865 election • MPs

1868 election • MPs

1874 election • MPs

1880 election • MPs

1885 election • MPs

In the 1874 United Kingdom general election, the Liberals, led by William Ewart Gladstone, won a majority of the votes cast, but Benjamin Disraeli's Conservatives won the majority of seats in the House of Commons, largely because they won a number of uncontested seats.

The election also saw Irish nationalists in the Home Rule League become the first significant third party in Parliament.

This was the first General Election that used a secret ballot following the 1872 Secret Ballot Act. The Irish Nationalist gains could well be attributed to the effects of the secret ballot as tenants faced less of a threat of eviction if they voted against the wishes of their landlords.

Results

UK General Election 1874
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Liberal	489	242			- 139		52.0	1,281,159	- 9.5
	Conservative	507	350			+ 79		44.3	1,091,708	+ 5.9
	Home Rule	80	60	0	0	+ 60		3.7	90,234	N/A
	Others	4	0	0	0	0		0.0	2,936	0.0

Total votes cast: 2,466,037. "Others" include the Catholic Union.

Voting summary

Popular vote
Liberal			51.95%
Conservative			44.27%
Home Rule			3.66%
Others			0.12%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Liberal			37.12%
Conservative			53.68%
Home Rule			9.2%

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000)
• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results