The 1812 United Kingdom general election was the fourth general election to be held after the
Union of Great Britain and Ireland
The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ire ...
.
The fourth United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 29 September 1812. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 24 November 1812, for a maximum seven-year term from that date. The maximum term could be and normally was curtailed, by the monarch dissolving the Parliament, before its term expired.
Political situation
Following the 1807 election the Pittite
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
ministry, led as Prime Minister by the
Duke of Portland
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
(who still claimed to be a
Whig), continued to prosecute the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
At the core of the opposition were the
Foxite
Foxite was a late 18th-century British political label for Whig followers of Charles James Fox.
Fox was the generally acknowledged leader of a faction of the Whigs from 1784 to his death in 1806. The group had developed from successive earlier ...
Whigs, led since the death of
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
in 1806 by
Earl Grey
Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscou ...
(known by the
courtesy title of Viscount Howick and a member of the House of Commons from 1806–07). However, as Foord observes: "the affairs of the party during most of this period were in a state of uncertainty and confusion". Grey was not the commanding leader Fox had been. After Grey inherited his peerage and went to the House of Lords in 1807, the party leadership in the House of Commons was extremely weak.
The Grenvillites, associated with the Whig Prime Minister before Portland,
William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville
William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs for the duration of ...
, were also in opposition but were of less significance than the Foxites. Despite this Grenville was recognised as the first Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords.
A relative of Grey's wife,
George Ponsonby
George Ponsonby (5 March 17558 July 1817), was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents.
Background and education
Ponsonby was the second surviving so ...
, was proposed to Whig MPs by Grey and Grenville as the Whig leader in the House of Commons. Ponsonby was the first person recognised as the official
Leader of Opposition in the House of Commons, as opposed to the leader of opposition faction. He proved to be incompetent but could not be persuaded to resign.
Until 1812 the Tory faction associated with another former Prime Minister,
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, (30 May 175715 February 1844) was an English Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804.
Addington is best known for obtaining the Treaty of Amiens in 1802, an ...
, and were also out of office.
The smallest component of the opposition were the
Radicals, who were a largely middle-class group of reformers. They had philosophical differences with the more aristocratic Whigs, but usually ended up voting with them in Parliament.
In 1809 Portland, whose health was failing, resigned. The new Tory Prime Minister was
Spencer Perceval
Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. Perceval is the only British prime minister to ...
. In April 1812 he brought Sidmouth into the cabinet. A month later, on 11 May 1812,
Perceval was assassinated. The premiership passed to the
Earl of Liverpool
Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for ...
, who failed to attract Grenville. This was a further stage in the development of a two-party system—just about all Tories supported the government and all Whigs opposed it.
The general election of 1812 returned the Tories to power for another term.
Dates of election
At this period there was not one election day. After receiving a writ (a royal command) for the election to be held, the local
returning officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
Australia
In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral c ...
fixed the election timetable for the particular constituency or constituencies he was concerned with. Polling in seats with contested elections could continue for many days.
An example of what happened in the 1812 election was the Irish constituency of
Westmeath
"Noble above nobility"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 =
, subdivis ...
. Walker confirms the date of election was 24 October 1812. Stooks Smith indicates that there were three days of polling, during which time 950 electors came to the
hustings
A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present.
Devel ...
and voted. Longer contests were possible. The polling in the
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
election of 1812 went on for 15 days (with 1,992 electors voting).
The time between the first and last contests in the general election was 5 October to 10 November 1812.
Summary of the constituencies
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire ( cy, Sir Fynwy) is a county in the south-east of Wales. The name derives from the historic county of the same name; the modern county covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. The largest town is Abergavenny, with ...
(1 County constituency with 2 MPs and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.
Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country
See also
*
United Kingdom general elections
This is a list of United Kingdom general elections (elections for the UK House of Commons) since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, ...
References
* ''His Majesty's Opposition 1714–1830'', by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press 1964)
* (Dates of Elections) Footnote to Table 5.02 ''British Electoral Facts 1832–1999'', compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000).
* (Types of constituencies – Great Britain) ''British Historical Facts 1760–1830'', by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980).
* (Types of constituencies – Ireland) ''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922'', edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978).
{{British elections
1812 elections in the United Kingdom
General election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
1812
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire.
* January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...
October 1812 events
November 1812 events
1810s elections in Ireland