United Kingdom general election, 1918

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did not begin until 28 December. The election was won by a coalition of the Conservatives under Andrew Bonar Law, the pro-coalition Liberals under David Lloyd George, and a few independent and former Labour MPs including the ant-socialist National Democratic and Labour Party. It resulted in a government which retained Lloyd George as Prime Minister.

Candidates which had the official support of the coalition were issued a letter of endorsement from Lloyd George and Bonar Law, known as a "coupon", and so this election is often called the coupon election. Coupons were issued to 159 Liberal candidates and 364 Conservatives though in some cases, they were rejected. It was also known as one of the khaki elections, due to the immediate postwar setting and the role of the demobilized soldiers.

The coalition parties won the election easily, with the Conservatives the big winners. They were the largest party in the governing majority. An additional 47 Conservatives won without the coupon but didn't act as a separate block or oppose the government except on the issue of Irish independence.

Labour, led by William Adamson vastly increased their share of the vote but only slightly increased their number of seats, losing some of their earlier leaders like Ramsay MacDonald and Arthur Henderson. The Labour vote surpassed the total votes of either Liberal party (although Labour's share was less than both combined and the Coalition Liberals alone had more seats). The anti-coalition Liberals under former Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, won about 36 seats but lost all their leaders from parliament including Asquith. However nine of these subsequently joined the Coalition Liberal group.

In Ireland, Sinn Féin under Éamon de Valera won 73 seats, including the UK's first ever woman MP, Constance Markievicz. The Sinn Féin members did not take their seats in the Commons, but sat in an Irish revolutionary assembly, Dáil Éireann. This convened on 21 January 1919, at the same time as the Irish War of Independence broke out.

Ireland

In Ireland, the Irish Parliamentary Party lost almost all their seats, most of which were won by Sinn Féin under Éamon de Valera. The 73 Sinn Féin elected members declined to take their seat in the British House of Commons, sitting instead in the Irish revolutionary assembly, Dáil Éireann. On 17 May 1918 almost the entire leadership of Sinn Féin, including de Valera and Arthur Griffith, had been arrested. In total 47 of the Sinn Féin MPs were elected from jail. The Dáil first convened on 21 January 1919, which is also the day on which the Irish War of Independence is considered to have begun.

It was in this election also that the UK's first ever woman MP was elected: Constance Markievicz (Sinn Féin, Dublin St Patrick's). Like the other Sinn Féin MPs, Markievicz did not take her seat.

Results

Maps

Votes by party

Total votes cast: 10,434,700. All parties shown. Coalition Conservative vote is compared with Conservative vote in previous election. In each other case, the non-coalition vote is compared with the party's previous vote. The Independent NFDSS entry includes an Independent NADSS candidate, who gained a seat with 8,287 votes.

Votes summary

Seats summary

See also

• United Kingdom general elections
• MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1918
• The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918 gives details of the franchises replaced by the ones used in 1918

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
• http://www.election.demon.co.uk/geresults.html

External links

• 1918 Conservative manifesto
• 1918 Labour manifesto
• 1918 Liberal manifesto