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The British general election, 1796 returned members to serve in the 18th and last House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain to be held before the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. The members in office at the end of 1800 continued to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom 1801-1802.
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Great Britain had been at war with France since 1792. The Prime Minister since 1783, William Pitt the Younger, led a broad wartime coalition of Whig and Tory politicians.
The principal opposition to Pitt was a relatively weak faction of Whigs, led by Charles James Fox. For four years after 1797 opposition attendance at Westminster was sporadic as Fox pursued a strategy of secession from Parliament. Only a small group, led by George Tierney, had attended frequently to oppose the ministers. As Foord observes "only once did the minority reach seventy-five, and it was often less than ten".
The period between the first and last returns was 25 May-29 June 1796.
Key to categories in the following tables: BC - Borough/Burgh constituencies, CC - County constituencies, UC - University constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP - County Members of Parliament, UMP - University Members of Parliament.
Monmouthshire (1 County constituency with 2 MPs and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.
Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country
| Country | BC | CC | UC | Total C | BMP | CMP | UMP | Total MPs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 202 | 39 | 2 | 243 | 404 | 78 | 4 | 486 |
| Wales | 13 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 27 |
| Scotland | 15 | 30 | 0 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 0 | 45 |
| Total | 230 | 82 | 2 | 314 | 432 | 122 | 4 | 558 |
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country
| Country | BC×1 | BC×2 | BC×4 | CC×1 | CC×2 | UC×2 | Total C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | 4 | 196 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 243 |
| Wales | 13 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 26 |
| Scotland | 15 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 45 |
| Total | 32 | 196 | 2 | 42 | 40 | 2 | 314 |
Sources:
(Dates of Elections) Footnote to Table 5.02 British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000).
(Types of constituencies - British Historical Facts 1760-1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980).
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