29 July – 26 August 1847 (1847-07-29 – 1847-08-26)
1852 →
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elected members →
All 656 seats in the House of Commons 329 seats needed for a majority
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Lord Stanley
Lord John Russell
John O'Connell
Party
Conservative
Whig
Irish Repeal
Leader since
July 1846
October 1842
15 May 1847
Leader's seat
House of Lords
City of London
Limerick City
Last election
367 seats, 51.6%
271 seats, 46.2%
20 seats, 1.9%
Seats won
325[1]
292
36
Seat change
42
21
16
Popular vote
205,481
259,311
14,128
Percentage
42.6%[n 1]
53.8%[n 1]
2.9%
Swing
9.0%
7.6%
1.0%
Prime Minister before election
Lord John Russell
Whig
Prime Minister after election
Lord John Russell
Whig
1837 election
MPs
1841 election
MPs
1847 election
MPs
1852 election
MPs
1857 election
MPs
The 1847 United Kingdom general election was conducted between 29 July 1847 and 26 August 1847 and resulted in the Whigs in control of government despite candidates calling themselves Conservatives winning the most seats. The Conservatives were divided between Protectionists, led by Lord Stanley, and a minority of free-trade Tories, known also as Liberal Conservatives or the Peelites for their leader, former prime minister Sir Robert Peel. This left the Whigs, led by Prime Minister Lord John Russell, in a position to continue in government.[2]
The Irish Repeal group won more seats than in the previous general election, while the Chartists gained the only seat they were ever to hold, Nottingham's second seat, held by Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor.
The election also witnessed the election of Britain's first Jewish MP, the Liberal Lionel de Rothschild in the City of London. Members being sworn in were however required to swear the Christian Oath of Allegiance, meaning Rothschild was unable actually to take his seat until the passage of the Jews Relief Act in 1858. The constituency of Sudbury, which elected two members, was disfranchised for this election. This accounts there being two fewer seats in the House of Commons as compared to the previous election, though no redistribution took place.
^Including Peelites.
^White, Isobel; Durkin, Mary (15 November 2007). "General Election Dates 1832-2005" (PDF). House of Commons.
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