View source for 1874 United Kingdom general election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1874 United Kingdom general election
| country = United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
| type = parliamentary
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1868 United Kingdom general election
| previous_year = 1868
| previous_mps = List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1868
| next_election = 1880 United Kingdom general election
| next_year = 1880
| turnout = 2,466,037
| seats_for_election = All [[Number of Westminster MPs|652 seats]] in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]
| majority_seats = 327
| election_date = {{start and end dates|1874|1|31|1874|2|17|df=yes}}
| elected_mps = List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1874

<!--      Conservative      -->| image1 = [[File:Benjamin Disraeli, 1878 (cropped).jpg|150x150px]]
| leader1 = [[Benjamin Disraeli]]
| leader_since1 = 27 February 1868
| party1 = Conservative Party (UK)
| leaders_seat1 = [[Buckinghamshire (UK Parliament constituency)|Buckinghamshire]]
| last_election1 = 271 seats, 38.7%
| seats1 = '''350'''
| seat_change1 = {{increase}}79
| popular_vote1 = 1,091,708
| percentage1 = 44.3%
| swing1 = {{increase}}5.6 [[Percentage point|pp]]

<!--      Liberal     -->| image2 = [[File:William Ewart Gladstone by Elliott & Fry - March 1879.jpg|150x150px]]
| leader2 = [[William Ewart Gladstone]]
| leader_since2 = 3 December 1868
| party2 = Liberal Party (UK)
| leaders_seat2 = [[Greenwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Greenwich]]
| last_election2 = 387 seats, 61.2%
| seats2 = 242{{efn|name=speaker}}
| seat_change2 = {{decrease}}145
| popular_vote2 = '''1,281,159'''
| percentage2 = '''52.0%'''
| swing2 = {{decrease}}9.2 [[Percentage point|pp]]

<!--      Home Rule      -->| image3 = [[File:Portrait of Isaac Butt.jpg|150x150px]]
| leader3 = [[Isaac Butt]]
| leader_since3 = November 1873
| party3 = Home Rule League
| leaders_seat3 = [[Limerick City (UK Parliament constituency)|Limerick City]]
| last_election3 = ''Did not contest''
| seats3 = 60
| seat_change3 = {{increase}}60
| popular_vote3 = 90,234
| percentage3 = 3.7%
| swing3 = ''New party''
| map_image = United Kingdom general election 1874.svg
| map_size = 380px
| map_caption = Colours denote the winning party
| title = [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]]
| posttitle = Prime Minister after election
| before_election = [[William Gladstone]]
| before_party = Liberal Party (UK)
| after_election = [[Benjamin Disraeli]]
| after_party = Conservative Party (UK)
| map2_image = File:1874 UK GE Composition diagram.svg
| map2_caption = Composition of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] after the election
}}
The '''1874 United Kingdom general election''' was held between 31 January to 17 February 1874. Although the [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberals]] won the majority of the votes, [[Benjamin Disraeli]]'s  [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] managed to win a majority, largely caused by the number of uncontested seats held by the Conservatives. Although there had been minority Conservative governments in the intervening years, this was the first outright Conservative election victory since [[Robert Peel]]'s victory in [[1841 United Kingdom general election|1841]] over thirty years earlier.<ref>William Henry Maehl, "Gladstone, the Liberals, and the Election of 1874", ''Historical Research'' (1963), 36#93: 53–69.</ref>

The election saw the Irish of the [[Home Rule League]] become a significant [[third political party|third party]] in Parliament, with 60 of 101 of the seats for Ireland. This was the first UK election to use a [[secret ballot]] following the [[1872 Secret Ballot Act]]. The Irish Nationalist gains are often attributed to the effects of the Secret Ballot Act,<ref name="Kinzer">{{cite book |last1=Kinzer |first1=Bruce L. |title=The Ballot Question in Nineteenth-Century English Politics |date=1982 |publisher=Garland |location=New York u.a |isbn=0824051572 |page=247 |url=https://archive.org/details/ballotquestionin0000kinz/page/247/mode/2up? |access-date=21 September 2025}}</ref> as tenants faced less of a threat of eviction if they voted against the wishes of their landlords.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Day |first1=Alan |title=Reactions to Irish Nationalism |date=1987 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=0826421172 |page=11 |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Reactions_to_Irish_Nationalism_1865_1914/EuBNO4XIu9oC?hl=en&gbpv=0 |access-date=22 September 2025}}</ref> However, the Home Rule League had already won 8 by-elections before the passage of the act, diminishing its often emphasised importance.<ref name="Kinzer"></ref> Also in this election, the first two working-class MPs were elected: [[Alexander Macdonald (Lib-Lab politician)|Alexander MacDonald]] and [[Thomas Burt]], both members of the Miners' Union, were elected as [[Liberal-Labour (UK)|Liberal-Labour]] (Lib–Lab) MPs in [[Stafford (UK Parliament constituency)|Stafford]] and [[Morpeth (UK Parliament constituency)|Morpeth]], respectively.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitfield |first1=Bob |title=The Extension of the Franchise, 1832-1931 |date=2001 |publisher=Heinemann |isbn=9780435327170 |page=240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-Rd0iLobaEC&pg=PA240}}</ref> The 1867 Reform Act eroded the legislative power of the rural gentry. The 1874 election, especially in Ireland, saw great landowners losing their county seats to [[tenant farmer]]s.<ref>David F. Krein, "The Great Landowners in the House of Commons, 1833–85." ''Parliamentary History'' 32.3 (2013): 460-476.</ref>

This is the only time, since the introduction of the secret ballot, that a UK party has been defeated despite receiving an absolute majority of the popular vote. This was primarily because over 100 Conservative candidates were elected unopposed. This meant no votes were cast in those 100 places where the Conservative candidates were anticipated to be popular; in the seats where Liberal candidates did stand, they polled a high proportion of the vote on average.

The election saw 652 MPs elected, six fewer than at the previous election. Following allegations of corruption, the Conservative-held constituencies of [[Beverley (UK Parliament constituency)|Beverley]] and [[Sligo Borough (UK Parliament constituency)|Sligo Borough]], and the Liberal-held constituencies of [[Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)|Bridgwater]] and [[Cashel (UK Parliament constituency)|Cashel]], had been abolished.
{{UK general election navigation|clear=none|1865|1868|1874|1880|1885}}

==Results==
[[File:1874 UK parliament.svg|center|300px]]
{{Election summary begin with candidates| title = UK General Election 1874}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
  |party      = Liberal Party (UK)
  |candidates = 489
  |seats      = 242
  |gain       = 
  |loss       = 
  |net        = &minus;139
  |votes      = 1,281,159
  |votes %    = 51.95
  |seats %    = 37.12
  |plus/minus = &minus;9.5
  |vps        = 5,294
}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
  |party      = Conservative Party (UK)
  |candidates = 507
  |seats      = 350
  |gain       = 
  |loss       = 
  |net        = +79
  |votes      = 1,091,708
  |votes %    = 44.27
  |seats %    = 53.68
  |plus/minus = +5.9
  |government = yes
  |vps        = 3,119
}}
{{Election summary party with candidates|
  |party      = Home Rule League
  |candidates = 80
  |seats      = 60
  |gain       = 0
  |loss       = 0
  |net        = +60
  |votes      = 90,234
  |votes %    = 3.66
  |seats %    = 9.20
  |plus/minus = ''N/A''
  |vps        = 1,504
}}
{{Election summary with candidates|
  |party      = Others
  |candidates = 4
  |seats      = 0
  |gain       = 0
  |loss       = 0
  |net        = 0
  |votes      = 2,936
  |votes %    = 0.12
  |seats %    =0 
  |plus/minus = 0.0
  |vps        = N/A
}}
|}

{{hatnote|Total votes cast: 2,466,037.<ref>"Others" include the [[Catholic Union]].</ref>}}

===Voting summary===
{{bar box
|title=Popular vote
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=380px
|bars=
{{bar percent|Liberal|{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}|51.95}}
{{bar percent|'''Conservative'''|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|44.27}}
{{bar percent|Home Rule|{{party color|Home Rule League}}|3.66}}
{{bar percent|Others|#777777|0.12}}
}}

===Seats summary===
{{bar box
|title=Parliamentary seats
|titlebar=#ddd
|width=600px
|barwidth=380px
|bars=
{{bar percent|Liberal|{{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}|37.12}}
{{bar percent|'''Conservative'''|{{party color|Conservative Party (UK)}}|53.68}}
{{bar percent|Home Rule|{{party color|Home Rule League}}|9.2}}
}}

===Regional results===
====Great Britain====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 |Party 
! Seats
! Seats change
! Votes
! %
! % change
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 319
| align=right| {{increase}}85
| align=right| 1,000,006
| align=right| 44.6
| align=right|
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 230{{efn|name=speaker|The seat and vote count figures for the Liberals given here include the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]]}}
| align=right| {{decrease}}93
| rowspan=2 align=right| 1,241,381
| rowspan=2 align=right| 55.4
| align=right| 
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal-Labour (UK)}}
| align=right| 2
| align=right| {{increase}}2
| align=right|
|-
| {{Party name with colour no link|Other}}
| align=right| 0
| align=right|
| align=right| 2
| align=right| 0.0
| align=right|
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; background: #f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" style="padding-left: 1.5em; text-align: left;" | Total
| align=right| 551
| align=right| {{decrease}}4
| align=right| 2,241,389
| align=right| 100
| align=right|
|}

=====England=====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 |Party 
! Seats
! Seats change
! Votes
! %
! % change
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 280
| align=right| {{increase}}69
| align=right| 905,239
| align=right| 46.2
| align=right| 
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 171
| align=right| {{decrease}}75
| rowspan=2 align=right| 1,035,268
| rowspan=2 align=right| 53.8
| align=right| 
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal-Labour (UK)}}
| align=right| 2
| align=right| {{increase}}2
| align=right|
|-
| {{Party name with colour no link|Other}}
| align=right| 0
| align=right| 
| align=right| 2
| align=right| 0.0
| align=right| 
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; background: #f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" style="padding-left: 1.5em; text-align: left;" | Total
| align=right| 451
| align=right| {{decrease}}4
| align=right| 1,940,509
| align=right| 100
| align=right|
|}

=====Scotland=====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 |Party 
! Seats
! Seats change
! Votes
! %
! % change
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 40
| align=right| {{decrease}}11
| align=right| 148,345
| align=right| 68.4
| align=right| 
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 18
| align=right| {{increase}}11
| align=right| 63,193
| align=right| 31.6
| align=right| 
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; background: #f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" style="padding-left: 1.5em; text-align: left;" | Total
| align=right| 58
| align=right| {{steady}}
| align=right| 211,538
| align=right| 100
| align=right|
|}

=====Wales=====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 |Party 
! Seats
! Seats change
! Votes
! %
! % change
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 19
| align=right| {{decrease}}4
| align=right| 57,768
| align=right| 60.9
| align=right| 
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 14
| align=right| {{increase}}4
| align=right| 31,574
| align=right| 39.1
| align=right| 
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; background: #f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" style="padding-left: 1.5em; text-align: left;" | Total
| align=right| 33
| align=right| {{steady}}
| align=right| 89,342
| align=right| 100
| align=right|
|}

====Ireland====
{{Main|United Kingdom general election, 1874 (Ireland)}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 |Party 
! Seats
! Seats change
! Votes
! %
! % change
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Home Rule League}}
| align=right| 60
| align=right| {{increase}}60
| align=right| 90,234
| align=right| 39.6
| align=right| {{new entry}}
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Irish Conservative Party}}
| align=right| 31
| align=right| {{decrease}}6
| align=right| 91,702
| align=right| 40.8
| align=right| &minus;1.1%
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 10
| align=right| {{decrease}}56
| align=right| 39,778
| align=right| 18.4
| align=right| &minus;39.5%
|-
| {{Party name with colour no link|Other}}
| align=right| 0
| align=right| 
| align=right| 2,934
| align=right| 1.2
| align=right| 
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; background: #f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" style="padding-left: 1.5em; text-align: left;" | Total
| align=right| 101
| align=right| {{decrease}}2
| align=right| 224,648
| align=right| 100
| align=right|
|}

====Universities====
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! colspan=2 |Party 
! Seats
! Seats change
! Votes
! %
! % change
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Conservative Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 7
| align=right| {{increase}}1
| align=right| 
| align=right| 
| align=right| 
|-
| {{Party name with colour|Liberal Party (UK)}}
| align=right| 2
| align=right| {{decrease}}1
| align=right| 
| align=right| 
| align=right| 
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight: bold; text-align: right; background: #f2f2f2;"
! colspan="2" style="padding-left: 1.5em; text-align: left;" | Total
| align=right| 9
| align=right| {{steady}}
| align=right| 
| align=right| 100
| align=right|
|}
{{hatnote|All University candidates were elected unopposed.}}

==See also==
* [[List of MPs elected in the 1874 United Kingdom general election]]
* [[1874 United Kingdom general election in Ireland]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{citation |author-link=F. W. S. Craig |first=F. W. S. |last=Craig |title=British Electoral Facts: 1832–1987 |year=1989 |location=Dartmouth |publisher=Gower |isbn=0900178302 }}
* {{citation |last=Hurst |first=Michael |title=Liberal versus Liberal: The General Election of 1874 in Bradford and Sheffield |journal=Historical Journal |volume=15 |pages=669–713 |number=4 |year=1972 |doi=10.1017/s0018246x00003502|s2cid=145108784 }}
* McIntyre, William David. "Disraeli's election blunder: The straits of Malacca issue in the 1874 election." ''Culture, Theory and Critique'' 5.1 (1961): 76-105.
* {{citation |last=Maehl |first=William Henry |title=Gladstone, the Liberals, and the Election of 1874 |journal=Historical Research |volume=36 |pages=53–69 |number=93 |year=1963 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2281.1963.tb00622.x}}
* {{citation |title=British Electoral Facts 1832–1999 |editor1-first=Colin |editor1-last=Rallings |editor1-link=Colin Rallings |editor2-first=Michael |editor2-last=Thrasher |editor2-link=Michael Thrasher |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd |year=2000}}
* {{citation |first=Martin |last=Roberts |title=Britain: 1846–1964: The Challenge of Change |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001}}
* Roberts, Matthew. "Election Cartoons and Political Communication In Victorian England" ''Cultural & Social History'' (2013) 10#3 pp 369–395, covers 1860 to 1890.
{{refend}}

{{British elections}}

[[Category:1874 United Kingdom general election| ]]
[[Category:1874 elections in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1874 in the United Kingdom|General election]]
[[Category:General elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom|1874]]
[[Category:January 1874]]
[[Category:February 1874]]
[[Category:Benjamin Disraeli]]
[[Category:William Ewart Gladstone]]