1841 United Kingdom general election

In the 1841 United Kingdom general election, there was a big swing as Sir Robert Peel's Conservatives took control of the House of Commons. Melbourne's Whigs had seen their support in the Commons erode over the previous years. Whilst Melbourne enjoyed the firm support of the young Queen Victoria, his ministry had seen increasing defeats in the Commons, culminating in the defeat of the government's budget in May 1841 by 36 votes, and by 1 vote in a 4 June 1841 vote of no confidence put forward by Peel. The Whigs and Tories were at odds over whether Melbourne's defeat required his resignation, with the Queen being advised by Lord Brougham that calling an election would be without precedent, and that it should only be dissolved to strengthen the government's hands, whereas dissolution facing the Whigs in 1841 was expected to result in their defeat. Melbourne himself opposed dissolution, although his cabinet came to accept it, and Melbourne requested the Queen dissolve Parliament, leading to an election.[1] The Queen thus prorogued Parliament on 22 June.[2]

1841 United Kingdom general election

29 June – 22 July 1841 (1841-06-29 – 1841-07-22)
All 658 seats in the House of Commons 330 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sir Robert Peel Viscount Melbourne Daniel O'Connell Party Conservative Whig Irish Repeal Leader since 19 December 1834 16 July 1834 15 April 1840 Leader's seat Tamworth House of Lords County Cork Last election 314 seats, 47.6% 344 seats, 52.4% Did not contest Seats won 367 271 20 Seat change 53 73 20 Popular vote 306,314 273,902 12,537 Percentage 51.6% 46.2% 2.1% Swing 4.0% 6.2% New party
Colours denote the winning party
Composition of the Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Viscount Melbourne Whig Prime Minister after election Sir Robert Peel Conservative

The Conservatives campaigned mainly on the issue of Peel's leadership, whilst the Whigs emphasised an impersonal platform of reforming the import duties on corn, replacing the existing sliding scale with a uniform rate. The Whig position lost them support amongst protectionists, and the Whigs saw heavy losses in constituencies like the West Riding, where aristocratic Whig families who held a strong tradition of unbroken representation in Parliament were rejected by the electorate. Even radical support coalesced around the Tories, with it being felt that Peel would be more open to electoral reform. Radical opinion also appeared to favour the business background of Peel and his supporters to the aristocratic and political background of Melbourne's Whigs, with it being felt that the Whigs made poor governors.[1]

The Whigs also lost votes to the Irish Repeal group. The Chartists picked up only a few votes despite their popular support, because voting was still restricted to a small percentage of the population. Only 3.17% of the total population voted. It is regarded as having been one of the most corrupt elections in British parliamentary history; the Westminster Review stated in 1843 that the "annals of parliamentary warfare contained no page more stained with the foulness of corruption and falsehood than that which relates the history of the general election in the year 1841".[3]

Results

UK General Election 1841
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Conservative	498	367			+53	55.78	51.62	306,314	+2.6
	Whig	388	271			−73	41.19	46.15	273,902	−4.8
	Irish Repeal	22	20	20	0	+20	3.04	2.11	12,537	N/A
	Chartist	8	0	0	0	0	0	0.12	692	N/A

Total votes cast: 593,445.[4]

Voting summary

Popular vote Conservative   51.62% Whig   46.15% Irish Repeal   2.11% Chartist   0.12%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Conservative   55.78% Whig   41.19% Irish Repeal   3.04%

Regional results

Great Britain

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	439	185	326	+42	286,650	52.7	+4.5
	Whig	333	83	229	−42	256,774	47.2	−4.6
	Chartist	8	0	0		692	0.1
Total		780	268	555		544,116	100

England

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	374	147	277		272,755	53.1
	Whig	277	62	187		236,813	46.8
	Chartist	4	0	0		307	0.1
Total		655	209	464		509,875	100

Scotland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Whig	40	13	31		16,356	60.8
	Conservative	35	16	22		9,793	38.3
	Chartist	3	0	0		385	0.9
Total		78	29	53		26,534	100

Wales

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	24	16	21		4,102	53.2
	Whig	16	8	11		3,605	46.8
	Chartist	1	0	0		0	0.0
Total		41	24	32		7,707	100

Ireland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Whig	55	30	42		17,128	35.1
	Irish Conservative	59	27	41		19,664	40.1
	Irish Repeal	22	12	20		12,537	24.8
Total		136	69	103		49,329	100

Universities

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	6	6	6		Uncontested	Uncontested
Total		6	6	6		Uncontested	Uncontested

Whig MPs who lost their seats

• Viscount Morpeth, Chief Secretary for Ireland
• Sir George Strickland, Bt
• Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet

References

1. Kemp, Betty (June 1952), "The General Election of 1841", History, 37 (130): 146–157, doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1952.tb00231.x, JSTOR 24402876
2. Saint James's Chronicle Tuesday 22 June 1841, p.2.
3. "Election Compromises", The Westminster Review, 39: 114, 1 January 1843, retrieved 28 November 2018
4. British Electoral Facts 1832–2006, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Parliamentary Research Services, 2007)

Further reading

• Craig, F. W. S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302
• Gash, Norman (1972), Sir Robert Peel: The life of Sir Robert Peel after 1830, pp. 234–72
• Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael, eds. (2000), British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd

External links

• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results