January 1910 United Kingdom general election

United Kingdom general election, January 1910

15 January – 10 February 1910
All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader H. H. Asquith Arthur Balfour John Redmond Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Irish Parliamentary Leader since 30 April 1908 11 June 1902 6 February 1900 Leader's seat East Fife City of London Waterford City Last election 399 seats, 48.7% 156 seats, 42.9% 82 seats, 0.6% Seats won 274 272 71 Seat change 123 116 11 Popular vote 2,866,157 3,104,407 74,047 Percentage 43.1% 46.7% 1.2% Swing 5.4% 3.4% 0.6%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Arthur Henderson William O'Brien Party Labour All-for-Ireland Leader since 22 January 1908 15 January 1910 Leader's seat Barnard Castle Cork City Last election 29 seats, 5.7% N/A Seats won 40 8 Seat change 11 8 Popular vote 505,657 23,605 Percentage 7.6% 0.4% Swing 2.2% 0.4%
PM before election H. H. Asquith Liberal Subsequent PM H. H. Asquith Liberal

The United Kingdom general election of January 1910 was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the House of Lords, in order to get a mandate to pass the budget.

The election produced a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party led by Arthur Balfour and their Liberal Unionist allies receiving the largest number of votes, but the Liberals led by H. H. Asquith winning the largest number of seats, returning two more MPs than the Conservatives. Asquith formed a government with the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party, led by John Redmond. A second election was soon held in December.

The Labour Party, led by Arthur Henderson, continued to gain strength, going from 29 seats to 40.

1900 election • MPs

1906 election • MPs

Jan 1910 election • MPs

Dec 1910 election • MPs

1918 election • MPs

Results

↓

274	272	71	40	13
Liberal	Conservative	IP	Labour	O

UK general election, January 1910

			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist	Arthur Balfour	594	272 (240+32)			+116	40.6	46.8	2,919,236	+3.4
	Liberal	H. H. Asquith	511	274			−123	40.9	43.5	2,712,511	−5.4
	Labour	Arthur Henderson	78	40	16	5	+11	6.0	7.0	435,770
	Irish Parliamentary	John Redmond	85	71	0	11	−11	10.6	1.2	74,047	+0.6
	All-for-Ireland	William O'Brien	10	8	8	0	+8	1.2	0.4	23,605
	Ind. Nationalist	N/A	10	3	3	2	+2	0.5	0.3	16,533
	Social Democratic Federation	H. M. Hyndman	9	0	0	0	0		0.2	13,479	-0.1
	Ind. Conservative	N/A	4	1	1	1	0	0.1	0.2	11,772
	Free Trader	John Eldon Gorst	4	0	0	0	0		0.2	11,553
	Independent Labour	N/A	6	0	0	1	−1		0.2	9,936
	Independent Liberal	N/A	3	1	1	0	+1	0.1	0.1	5,237
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	1	0	0	0	0		0.0	756

All parties shown.

Seat winners in England and Wales

Voting summary

Popular vote Conservative and Liberal Unionist   46.82% Liberal   43.51% Labour   6.99% Irish Parliamentary   1.19% Independent   0.7% Others   0.79%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Liberal   40.9% Conservative and Liberal Unionist   40.6% Labour   5.97% Irish Parliamentary   10.6% All-for-Ireland   1.19% Independent   0.75%

See also

• MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, January 1910
• The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918

External links

• January 1910 Conservative manifesto
• January 1910 Labour manifesto
• January 1910 Liberal manifesto

Further reading

• Blewett, Neal. The Peers, the Parties and the People: The General Elections of 1910 (1972)
• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• Sykes, Alan. Tariff Reform in British Politics: 1903-1913 (Oxford University Press, 1979)

External links

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