1874 United Kingdom general election

The 1874 United Kingdom general election saw the incumbent Liberals, led by William Ewart Gladstone, lose decisively, even though it won a majority of the votes cast. Benjamin Disraeli's Conservatives won the majority of seats in the House of Commons, largely because they won a number of uncontested seats. It was the first Conservative victory in a general election since 1841. Gladstone's decision to call an election surprised his colleagues, for they were aware of large sectors of discontent in their coalition. For example, the nonconformists were upset with education policies; many working-class people disliked the new trade union laws and the restrictions on drinking. The Conservatives were making gains in the middle-class, Gladstone wanted to abolish the income tax, but failed to carry his own cabinet. The result was a disaster for the Liberals, who went from 387 MPs to only 242. Conservatives jumped from 271 to 350. For the first time the Irish nationalists would be elected. Gladstone himself noted: "We have been swept away in a torrent of gin and beer" (Roberts 2001, p. 332).

1874 United Kingdom general election

31 January – 17 February 1874 (1874-01-31 – 1874-02-17)
All 652 seats in the House of Commons 327 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Benjamin Disraeli William Ewart Gladstone Isaac Butt Party Conservative Liberal Home Rule Leader since 27 February 1868 3 December 1868 November 1873 Leader's seat Buckinghamshire Greenwich Limerick City Last election 271 seats, 38.7% 387 seats, 61.2% Did not contest Seats won 350 242 60 Seat change 79 145 60 Popular vote 1,091,708 1,281,159 90,234 Percentage 44.3% 52.0% 3.7% Swing 5.6% 9.2% New party
Colours denote the winning party
Prime Minister before election William Ewart Gladstone Liberal Prime Minister after election Benjamin Disraeli Conservative

The election saw the Irish of the Home Rule League become the first significant third party in Parliament, with 60 of 101 of the seats for Ireland. This had been 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 Act as tenants faced less of a threat of eviction if they voted against the wishes of their landlords. In this election also, the first two working-class MPs were elected: Alexander MacDonald and Thomas Burt, both members of the Miners' Union, were elected as Liberal-Labour (Lib–Lab) MPs in Stafford and Morpeth, respectively.[1]

This is the only time since the introduction of the secret ballot that a party has been defeated despite receiving an absolute majority of the popular vote. This was primarily because over 100 Conservative candidates were elected unopposed. This meant no votes were cast in those 100 places where the Conservative candidates were anticipated to be popular; in the seats where Liberal candidates did stand, they polled a high proportion of the vote on average.

The election saw 652 MPs elected, 6 fewer than at the previous election. Following allegations of corruption the Conservative-held constituencies of Beverley and Sligo Borough, and the Liberal-held constituencies of Bridgwater and Cashel, had been abolished.

Results

UK General Election 1874

			Candidates						Votes
Party		Leader	Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Liberal	489	242			−139	37.12	51.95	1,281,159	−9.5
	Conservative	507	350			+79	53.68	44.27	1,091,708	+5.9
	Home Rule	80	60	0	0	+60	9.20	3.66	90,234	N/A
	Others	4	0	0	0	0	0	0.12	2,936	0.0

Total votes cast: 2,466,037.[2]

Voting summary

Popular vote Liberal   51.95% Conservative   44.27% Home Rule   3.66% Others   0.12%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Liberal   37.12% Conservative   53.68% Home Rule   9.2%

Regional results

Great Britain

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	319	85	1,000,006	44.6
	Liberal	230	93	1,241,381	55.4
	Lib-Lab	2	2
	Other	0		2	0.0
Total		551	4	2,241,389	100

England

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	280	69	905,239	46.2
	Liberal	171	75	1,035,268	53.8
	Lib-Lab	2	2
	Other	0		2	0.0
Total		451	4	1,940,509	100

Scotland

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Liberal	40	11	148,345	68.4
	Conservative	18	11	63,193	31.6
Total		58		211,538	100

Wales

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Liberal	19	4	57,768	60.9
	Conservative	14	4	31,574	39.1
Total		33		89,342	100

Ireland

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Home Rule	60	60	90,234	39.6
	Irish Conservative	31	6	91,702	40.8	−1.1%
	Liberal	10	56	39,778	18.4	−39.5%
	Other	0		2,934	1.2
Total		101	2	224,648	100

Universities

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Conservative	7	1
	Liberal	2	1
Total		9			100

Notes

1. Whitfield, Bob (2001). The Extension of the Franchise, 1832-1931. Heinemann. p. 240. ISBN 9780435327170.
2. "Others" include the Catholic Union.

References

• Craig, F. W. S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302
• Hurst, Michael (1972), "Liberal versus Liberal: The General Election of 1874 in Bradford and Sheffield", Historical Journal, 15 (4): 669–713, doi:10.1017/s0018246x00003502
• Maehl, William Henry (1963), "Gladstone, the Liberals, and the Election of 1874", Historical Research, 36 (93): 53–69, doi:10.1111/j.1468-2281.1963.tb00622.x
• Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael, eds. (2000), British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd
• Roberts, Martin (2001), Britain: 1846–1964: The Challenge of Change, Oxford University Press