1830 United Kingdom general election

1830 United Kingdom general election
← 1826 29 July – 1 September 1830 (1830-07-29 – 1830-09-01) 1831 →
All 658 seats in the House of Commons
330 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Duke of Wellington Marquess of Lansdowne Sir Edward Knatchbull
Party Tory Whig Ultra-Tories
Leader since 22 January 1828 1824[1] 1829
Leader's seat House of Lords House of Lords Kent
Seats won 250 196 60
Seat change Decrease178 Decrease2 Increase60
Popular vote 62,554 96,536 2,305
Percentage 38.4% 59.3% 1.4%
Colours denote the winning party[2]
The UK parliament after the 1830 election
Prime Minister before election

Duke of Wellington
Tory

Prime Minister after vote of no confidence

Earl Grey
Whig

The 1830 United Kingdom general election was triggered by the death of King George IV and produced the first parliament of the reign of his successor, King William IV. Fought in the aftermath of the Swing Riots, it saw electoral reform become a major election issue. Polling took place in July and August[3] and the Tories won a plurality over the Whigs, but division among Tory MPs allowed Earl Grey to form an effective government and take the question of electoral reform to the country the following year.

The eighth United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 24 July 1830. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 14 September 1830, 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. This election was the first since 1708 to cause the collapse of the government.[4]

  1. ^ Lansdowne was the acting leader of the Whigs.
  2. ^ Hatched constituencies each returned equal numbers of Whigs and Tories.
  3. ^ The 1830 General Election
  4. ^ B. Hilton,[year missing] A Mad, Bad and Dangerous People?[publisher missing]