1868 United Kingdom general election

1868 United Kingdom general election
← 1865 17 November – 7 December 1868 1874 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 658 seats in the House of Commons; 330 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	2,333,251
	Colours denote the winning party
	Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election; Benjamin Disraeli; Conservative	Prime Minister after; election ; William Gladstone; Liberal

The 1868 United Kingdom general election was held between 17 November to 7 December 1868. The Liberal Party, under William Ewart Gladstone, defeated the governing Conservative minority government, led by Benjamin Disraeli.

This was the first general election to be held after the passage of the Reform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom. It was the first election held in the United Kingdom in which more than a million votes were cast; nearly triple the number of votes were cast compared to the previous election in 1865.^{[citation needed]}

The establishment of the Church of Ireland was a dominant issue in the 1868 general election. Earlier that year, the House of Lords blocked the Established Church (Ireland) Bill, which would have imposed restrictions on the Irish Church. Gladstone's Liberal government, which favored disestablishment, used its parliamentary majority to pass the Irish Church Act the following year.^[1]

This was the last general election at which all seats were taken by only the two leading parties, although the parties at the time were loose coalitions and party affiliation was not listed on registration papers.^{[citation needed]}

Results

UK General Election 1868

Party		Candidates						Votes
Party		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Liberal	600	387^[a]			+18	58.81	61.24	1,428,776	+2.0
	Conservative	436	271			−18	41.19	38.71	903,318	−2.1
	Others	3	0	0	0	0	0	0.05	1,157	N/A

Voting summary

Popular vote

Liberal			61.24%
Conservative			38.71%
Others			0.05%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats

Liberal			58.81%
Conservative			41.19%
Others			0.0%

Regional results

Great Britain

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%
	Liberal	515	80	321	7	1,374,315	61.4
	Conservative	383	65	234	10	864,551	38.6
	Other	1	0	0		969	0.0
Total		899	145	555	3	2,239,835	100

England

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%
	Liberal	412	46	244	7	1,192,098	59.7
	Conservative	334	54	211	2	803,637	40.2
	Other	1	0	0		969	0.1
Total		747	100	455	9	1,996,704	100

Scotland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%
	Liberal	70	23	51	9	125,356	82.5
	Conservative	20	3	7	4	23,985	17.5
Total		90	26	58	5	149,341	100

Wales

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%
	Liberal	29	10	23	5	52,256	62.1
	Conservative	20	4	10	4	29,866	37.9
Total		49	14	33	1	82,122	100

Ireland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Liberal	85	41	66	8	54,461	57.9	+2.3
	Irish Conservative	53	26	37	8	38,765	41.9	-2.5
	Other	2	0	0		188	0.2	+0.2
Total		140	67	103		149,341	100

Universities

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%
	Conservative	9	4	6		7,063	55.4
	Liberal	4	1	3	3	4,605	44.6
Total		13	5	9		11,668	100

Notes

1 2 The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

References

↑ Dymond, Glenn; Deadman, Hugo (30 June 2006). "The Salisbury Doctrine" (PDF). parliament.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 13 January 2026.

Craig, F. W. S. (1989), British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987, Dartmouth: Gower, ISBN 0900178302
Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael, eds. (2000), British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, Ashgate Publishing Ltd
Roberts, Matthew (2013). "Election Cartoons and Political Communication in Victorian England". Cultural and Social History. 10 (3): 369–395. doi:10.2752/147800413X13661166397229. S2CID 143879878. (covers 1860 to 1890).

External links

[speaker-1] 1 2 The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons

[2] Dymond, Glenn; Deadman, Hugo (30 June 2006). "The Salisbury Doctrine" (PDF). parliament.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved 13 January 2026.

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