1885 United Kingdom general election

The 1885 United Kingdom general election was held from 24 November to 18 December 1885. The first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats, it saw the Liberals lose their majority.

1885 United Kingdom general election

← 1880 24 November – 18 December 1885 (1885-11-24 – 1885-12-18) 1886 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	4,347,984 81.2%
First party Second party Third party   Leader William Gladstone Marquess of Salisbury Charles Stewart Parnell Party Liberal Conservative Irish Parliamentary Leader since April 1880 April 1881 17 October 1882 Leader's seat Midlothian House of Lords Cork City Last election 352 seats, 54.7% 237 seats, 42.5% 63 seats, 2.8% Seats won 319[a] 247 86 Seat change 33 10 23 Popular vote 2,071,868 1,869,560 299,178 Percentage 47.7% 43.0% 6.9% Swing 7.0 pp 0.5 pp 4.1 pp
Results by constituency Results by country
Diagram displaying the composition of the House of Commons following the general election
Prime Minister before election Marquess of Salisbury Conservative Prime Minister after election William Gladstone Liberal

The election saw the Liberals, led by William Gladstone, win the most seats, but not an overall majority, so a minority government was necessary. The Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between the Liberals and the Conservatives who sat with a large number of allied Unionist MPs (their name referred to their support for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland). The pressure of minority government status exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule. This led to a Liberal split that caused another general election the following year.

The 1885 election saw the first socialist party participate, with the Social Democratic Federation led by H. M. Hyndman standing three candidates. None were elected.

Results

UK General Election 1885
Party		Candidates						Votes
		Stood	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Liberal	575	319[a]			−33	47.61	47.65	2,071,868	−7.3
	Conservative	597	247			+10	36.87	43.00	1,869,560	+0.9
	Irish Parliamentary	91	86			+23	12.84	6.88	299,178	+4.0
	Independent Liberal	35	11			+11	1.64	1.28	55,652	N/A
	Crofters	6	4			+4	0.60	0.38	16,551	N/A
	Ind. Conservative	8	2			+2	0.30	0.29	12,599	N/A
	Lib-Lab	4	1			+1	0.15	0.19	8,232	N/A
	Independent	6	0			0	0	0.15	6,570	N/A
	Ind. Nationalist	2	0			0	0	0.07	2,889	N/A
	Scottish Land Restoration	5	0			0	0	0.05	2,359	N/A
	Irish Loyalist	6	0			0	0	0.04	1,869	N/A
	Social Democratic Federation	3	0			0	0	0.02	657	N/A

Total votes cast: 4,347,984.^[b]
Electorate: 5,708,030 (5,429,708 in contested seats)
Turnout: 81.2%^[1]

Voting summary

Popular vote Liberal   47.65% Conservative   43.00% Irish Parliamentary   6.88% Independent Liberal   1.28% Crofters   0.38% Independent Conservative   0.29% Lib-Lab   0.19% Independent   0.15% Others   0.18%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Liberal   47.61% Conservative   36.87% Irish Parliamentary   12.84% Independent Liberal   1.64% Crofters   0.60% Independent Conservative   0.30% Lib-Lab   0.15%

See also

• List of MPs elected in the 1885 United Kingdom general election
• Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918
• Representation of the People Act 1884
• Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
• 1885 United Kingdom general election in Ireland
• 1885 United Kingdom general election in Scotland
• Hawarden Kite, Gladstone announces for Home Rule and wins over the Irish

Notes

1. The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the Speaker of the House of Commons, Arthur Peel
2. All parties shown.