United Kingdom general election, 1886

United Kingdom general election, 1886

1885 ← members 1–27 July 1886 Members elected → 1892 members

All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Lord Salisbury William Ewart Gladstone Charles Stewart Parnell Party Conservative and Liberal Unionist Liberal Irish Parliamentary Leader since April 1881 3 December 1868 17 October 1882 Leader's seat Marquess of Salisbury Midlothian Cork City Last election 247 seats, 43.5% 319 seats, 47.4% 86 seats, 6.9% Seats won 393 192 85 Seat change 144 127 0 Popular vote 1,520,886 1,244,683 97,905 Percentage 51.1% 41.8% 3.3% Swing 7.6 7.1 3.6%

PM before election William Ewart Gladstone Liberal Subsequent PM Lord Salisbury Conservative

1880 election • MPs

1885 election • MPs

1886 election • MPs

1892 election • MPs

1895 election • MPs

The 1886 United Kingdom general election took place from 1–27 July 1886. It resulted in a major reversal of the results of the 1885 election as the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury 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 Irish Home Rule, and their sometimes allies, the Irish Parliamentary Party led by Charles Stewart Parnell, 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 19 years.

Results

UK General Election 1886
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist	563	393 (316 + 77)			+ 144		51.1	1,520,886
	Liberal	451	192			- 127		41.8	1,244,683
	Irish Parliamentary	98	85	1	1	0		3.3	97,905
	Independent Liberal	1	0	0	0	0		0.1	1,247
	Ind. Liberal Unionist	2	0	0	0	0		0.0	544

Vote summary

Popular vote
Conservative and Liberal Unionist			53.08%
Liberal			43.44%
Irish Parliamentary			3.41%
Independent			0.06%

Seats summary

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

See also

• MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886
• The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
• United Kingdom election results - summary results 1885-1979