United Kingdom general election, 1874

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In the 1874 United Kingdom general election, the Liberals, led by William 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.

[edit] Results

UK General Election 1874
Party Seats Gains Losses Net Gain/Loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/-
  Liberal 242 - 145 52.0 1,281,159 - 9.5
  Conservative 350 + 79 44.3 1,091,708 + 5.9
  Home Rule 60 60 0 0 3.7 90,234 N/A
  Others 0 0 0 0 0.0 2,936 0.0

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

[edit] References

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