In the 1859 United Kingdom general election returned no party a majority of seats in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. The Earl of Derby's Conservatives formed a minority government, but despite making overall gains, Derby's government was defeated in a confidence vote by an alliance of

Palmerston Palmerston may refer to: People * Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer * Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston ** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman and ...

's Whigs together with

Peelites The Peelites were a breakaway dissident political faction of the British Conservative Party from 1846 to 1859. Initially led by Robert Peel, the former Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in 1846, the Peelites supported free trade whilst ...

Radicals Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

and the Irish Brigade. Palmerston subsequently formed a new government from this alliance which is now considered to be the first Liberal Party administration. There is no separate tally of votes or seats for the Peelites. They did not contest elections as an organised party but more as independent

Free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

Conservatives with varying degrees of distance from the two main parties. It was also the last

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 ( ...

entered by the

Chartists Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, ...

, before their organisation was dissolved. As of , this is the last election in which the Conservatives won the most seats in Wales, as well as being the last election to date in which the Conservative Party took less than a third of the vote in England. The election was the quietest and least competitive between 1832 and 1885, with most county elections being uncontested. The election also saw the lowest number of candidates between 1832 and 1885, with Tory gains potentially being the result of a lack of opposition as much as a change in public opinion. According to A.J.P. Taylor: : the government which Palmerston organized in June 1859 was a coalition of a different kind : not a coalition of groups which looked back to the past, but a coalition which anticipated the future. Had it not been for Palmerston himself^too individual, too full of personality to be fitted into a party-pattem—it would have been the first Liberal government in our history. Everything that was important in it was Liberal—finance, administrative reform, its very composition : the first government with unmistakable middle-class Free Traders as members.A. J. P. Taylor, "Lord Palmerston," ''History Today'' (1951) 1#7 pp 35-41 at p. 3
online
/ref>

Results

Regional results

Great Britain

=England

=Scotland

=Wales

Ireland

Universities

References

Sources

* *

External links

Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results
{{United Kingdom elections 1859 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 ( ...

1859 April 1859 events May 1859 events