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.

Contents

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

References