United Kingdom general election, 1837

United Kingdom general election, 1837

24 July–18 August 1837
All 658 seats in the House of Commons 330 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader The Viscount Melbourne Sir Robert Peel Party Whig Conservative Leader since 16 July 1834 19 December 1834 Leader's seat Baron Melbourne Tamworth Last election 385 seats, 55.2% 273 seats, 40.8% Seats won 344 314 Seat change 41 41 Popular vote 418,331 379,694 Percentage 51.7% 48.3% Swing 5.5% 5.5%
450px Colours denote the winning party.
PM before election Lord Melbourne Whig Subsequent PM Lord Melbourne Whig

1832 election • MPs

1835 election • MPs

1837 election • MPs

1841 election • MPs

1847 election • MPs

The 1837 United Kingdom general election was triggered by the death of King William IV and produced the first parliament of the reign of his successor, Queen Victoria. It saw Robert Peel's Conservatives close further on the position of the Whigs, who won their fourth election of the decade.

The election marked the last time that a parliament was dissolved as a result of the demise of the Crown. Immediate dissolution of parliament following the demise of the Crown was abolished by the Reform Act 1867.

Results

United Kingdom General Election 1837
		Candidates						Votes
Party		Standing	Elected	Gained	Unseated	Net	% of total	%	No.	Net %
	Whig	510	344			- 41	52.3	52.4	418,331	- 4.8
	Conservative	484	314			+ 41	47.7	47.6	379,694	+ 4.8

Total votes cast: 798,025

Voting summary

Popular vote
Whig			52.42%
Conservative			47.58%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Whig			52.28%
Conservative			47.72%

Regional Results

Great Britain

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Conservative	414	102	284	46	353,000	48.2	5.4
	Whig	422	81	271	46	379,961	51.8	5.4
Total		836	183	555		732,961	100

England

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Conservative	348	80	239	39	321,124	48.9	6.3
	Whig	352	60	225	39	347,549	51.1	6.3
Total		658	177	464		491,540	100

Scotland

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Whig	49	15	33	5	22,082	54.0	8.8
	Conservative	35	7	20	5	18,569	46.0	8.8
Total		84	22	53		40,651	100

Wales

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Conservative	25	11	19	2	11,616	52.8	11.1
	Whig	20	6	13	2	10,144	47.2	11.1
Total		45	17	32		21,760	100

Ireland

Main article: United Kingdom general election, 1837 (Ireland)

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Whig/Repeal Coalition	88	34	73	5	38,370	58.5	9.9
	Conservative	70	19	30	5	26,694	41.5	9.9
Total		158	53	103		65,064	100

Universities

Party		Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Conservative	6	4	6		1,691	90.1
	Whig	1	0	0		186	9.9
Total		6	6	6		1,877	100

References

• F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987
• British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000)
• Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results