United Kingdom general election, 1832

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United Kingdom general election, 1832

The 1832 UK general election, the first after the Reform Act

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
, saw the Whigs win a large majority, with the Tories winning less than 30% of the vote.

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Total votes cast: 827,776

Voting summary
Seats summary
Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of the United Kingdom , known as Viscount Howick between 1806 and 1807, was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland British Whig Party statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom ....
had been Prime Minister since 22 November 1830.

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The 1832 UK general election, the first after the Reform Act

Reform Act 1832

Results

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley Kg Ccb Gch Cor 1st Duke of Wellington

Daniel O'connell Project Gutenberg 13103

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Total votes cast: 827,776

Candidates	Unopposed	Seats
Whig British Whig Party The Whigs are often described as one of two political party in Kingdom of England and later the United Kingdom from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries....	636	109	441
Tory	350	66	175
Repeal Association Repeal Association The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell to campaign for a repeal of the Act of Union 1800 of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland....	51	14	42
Total	1,037	189	658

Voting summary

Seats summary

Parties and Leaders at the General Election

The Earl Grey

Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey

Ministry of All the Talents

The Ministry of All the Talents was a National government formed by William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville on his appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on 11 February 1806 after the death of William Pitt the Younger....
in 1806-1807.

In addition to the Whigs themselves Grey was supported by Radical and other allied politicians. The Whigs and their allies were gradually coming to be referred to as Liberals, but no formal Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major British political parties from the early 19th century until the rise of the Labour Party in the 1920s, and a third party of varying strength and importance up to 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form a new party which would become known as the Liberal Democrats....
had been established at the time of this election, so all the politicians supporting the ministry are referred to as Whig in the above results.

The government Leader of the House of Commons

Leader of the House of Commons

The Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the United Kingdom House of Commons....
since 1830, was Viscount Althorp

John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer

John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer , known during his father's lifetime by his courtesy title Viscount Althorp, was an England statesman....
(the heir of the Earl Spencer), who also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer

Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet of the United Kingdom Minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters....
.

The last Tory Prime Minister, at the time of the 1832 election, was the Duke of Wellington

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Order of the Garter, Order of St Patrick, Order of the Bath, Royal Guelphic Order, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Royal Society , was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the nineteenth century....
. After leaving government office, Wellington continued to lead the Tory peers and was the overall Leader of the Opposition.

The Tory Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, was Sir Robert Peel, Bt

Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet was the Conservative Party Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 December 1834 to 8 April 1835, and again from 30 August 1841 to 29 June 1846....
.

John Wilson Croker

John Wilson Croker

John Wilson Croker was a United Kingdom statesman and author.He was born at Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland....
had used the term conservative in 1830, but the Tories at the time of this general election had not yet become generally known as the Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom....
.

In Irish politics, Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell

Daniel O'Connell , known as The Liberator, or The Emancipator, was an Ireland political leader in the first half of the nineteenth century....
was continuing his campaign for repeal of the Act of Union. He had founded the Irish Repeal Association

Repeal Association

The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell to campaign for a repeal of the Act of Union 1800 of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland....
and it presented candidates independent of the two principal parties.

Dates of Election

Following the passage of the Reform Act 1832 and related legislation to reform the electoral system and redistribute constituencies, the tenth

List of Parliaments of the United Kingdom

This is a list of Parliaments of the United Kingdom, tabulated with the elections to the British House of Commons and the list of members of the House....
United Kingdom Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislature in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories....
was dissolved on 3 December 1832. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 29 January 1833, 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.

At this period there was not one election day. After receiving a writ (a royal command) for the election to be held, the local returning officer

Returning Officer

In various parliamentary systems, a Returning Officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies....
fixed the election timetable for the particular constituency or constituencies he was concerned with. Polling in seats with contested elections could continue for many days.

The general election took place between December 1832 and January 1833. The first nomination was on 8 December, with the first contest on 10 December and the last contest on 8 January 1833. It was usual for polling in the University constituencies and in Orkney and Shetland

Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)

Orkney and Shetland is a United Kingdom constituencies of the United Kingdom House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
to take place about a week after other seats. Disregarding contests in the Universities and Orkney and Shetland, the last poll was on 1 January 1833.

Summary of the Constituencies

For the distribution of constituencies in the Unreformed House of Commons

Unreformed House of Commons

The unreformed House of Commons is the name generally given to the British House of Commons as it existed before the Reform Act 1832.Until the Act of Union 1707 of 1707 joining the Kingdoms of Kingdom of Scotland and Kingdom of England , Scotland had its own Parliament of Scotland, and the term refers to the English House of Commons...
, before this general election, see the United Kingdom general election, 1831

United Kingdom general election, 1831

The 1831 UK general election, the last before the Reform Act 1832, saw electoral reform as the major election issue. It was held from 28 April to 1 June 1831....
. Apart from the disenfranchisement of Grampound

Grampound (UK Parliament constituency)

Grampound in Cornwall, was a borough constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of England, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1821....
for corruption in 1821 and the transfer of its two seats as additional members for Yorkshire

Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Yorkshire was a United Kingdom constituencies of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of England from 1290, then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832....
from 1826, there had been no change in the constituencies of England since the 1670s. In some cases the county and borough seats had remained unaltered since the thirteenth century. Welsh constituencies had been unchanged since the sixteenth century. Those in Scotland had remained the same since 1708 and in Ireland since 1801.

In 1832 politicians were facing an unfamiliar electoral map, as well as an electorate including those qualified under a new uniform householder franchise in the boroughs. However the reform legislation had not removed all the anomalies in the electoral system.

Table of Largest and Smallest Electorates 1832, by country, type and number of seats

Country	Type	Seats	Largest Constituency	Largest Electorate	Smallest Constituency	Smallest Electorate
England	Borough	1	Salford Salford (UK Parliament constituency) Salford is a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....	1,497	Reigate Reigate (UK Parliament constituency) Reigate is a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....	153
		2	Westminster Westminster (UK Parliament constituency) Westminster was a former parliamentary constituency in the Parliament of England to 1707, the Parliament of Great Britain 1707-1800 and the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801....	11,576	Thetford Thetford (UK Parliament constituency) Thetford was a United Kingdom constituencies of the British House of Commons. It elected two Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election until it was disenfranchised in 1868....	146
		4	City of London City of London (UK Parliament constituency) The City of London was a former United Kingdom Parliament of the United Kingdom constituency. It was a United Kingdom constituencies of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950....	18,584	...	...
	County	1	Isle of Wight Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency) The Isle of Wight is a county constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom....	1,167	...	...
		2	West Riding of Yorkshire West Riding of Yorkshire (UK Parliament constituency) West Riding of Yorkshire was a former UK Parliament constituency in England, returning two Members of Parliament 1832-1865....	18,056	Rutland Rutland (UK Parliament constituency) Rutland was a United Kingdom constituencies covering the county of Rutland. It was represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1918, when it became part of the Rutland and Stamford constituency, along with Stamford in Lincolnshire....	1,296
		3	Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament constituency) Cambridgeshire is a former United Kingdom Parliament of the United Kingdom constituency. It was a United Kingdom constituencies of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885....	6,435	Oxfordshire Oxfordshire (UK Parliament constituency) Oxfordshire was a county constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885....	4,721
	University	2	Oxford University Oxford University (UK Parliament constituency) Oxford University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950....	2,496	Cambridge University Cambridge University (UK Parliament constituency) Cambridge University was a university constituency electing two members to the British House of Commons, from 1603 to 1950....	2,319
Wales	Borough	1	Flint Boroughs Flint Boroughs (UK Parliament constituency) Flint Boroughs was a United Kingdom constituencies in north-east Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the United Kingdom general election, 1918....	1,359	Brecon Brecon (UK Parliament constituency) Brecon was a United Kingdom constituencies in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and its predecessors, from 1542 until it was abolished for the United Kingdom general election, 1885....	242
	County	1	Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire (UK Parliament constituency) Pembrokeshire was a United Kingdom constituencies based on the county of Pembrokeshire in Wales. It returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....	3,700	Merionethshire	580
	County	2	Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (UK Parliament constituency) Carmarthenshire was a United Kingdom constituencies in Wales which returned one Member of Parliament to the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until its representation was increased to two members for the United Kingdom general election, 1832....	3,887	Denbighshire Denbighshire (UK Parliament constituency) Denbighshire was a county constituency in Denbighshire , in north Wales, from 1542 to 1885....	3,401
Scotland	Burgh	1	Aberdeen Aberdeen (UK Parliament constituency) Aberdeen was a burgh constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until 1885. It was represented by one Member of Parliament , elected by the first past the post voting system....	2,024	Wigtown Burghs	316
	Burgh	2	Glasgow Glasgow (UK Parliament constituency) Glasgow was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1885....	6,989	Edinburgh Edinburgh (UK Parliament constituency) Edinburgh was a constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1885....	6,048
	County	1	Perthshire Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency) Perthshire was a county constituency of the British House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1885, representing a seat for one Member of Parliament ....	3,180	Sutherland Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency) Sutherland was a United Kingdom constituencies of the United Kingdom House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918....	84
Ireland	Borough	1	Carrickfergus Carrickfergus (UK Parliament constituency) Carrickfergus is a former United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland, returning one MP....	1,024	Lisburn Lisburn (UK Parliament constituency) Lisburn was a former United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland, returning one MP. It was an original constituency represented in Parliament when the Union of Great Britain and Ireland took effect on 1 January, 1801....	91
	Borough	2	Dublin Dublin City (UK Parliament constituency) Dublin City was an Irish Borough constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It comprised the city of Dublin in the county of Dublin, and was represented by two Member of Parliament from its creation in 1801 until 1885....	7,008	Waterford Waterford City (UK Parliament constituency) Waterford City was a former United Kingdom Parliament constituency, in Ireland....	1,241
	County	2	County Cork Cork County (UK Parliament constituency) Cork County was United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland that elected two Members of Parliament between 1801 and 1885. It was then divided into seven smaller constituencies....	3,835	County Kildare Kildare (UK Parliament constituency) A former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament....	1,112
	University	2	Dublin University	2,073	...	...

Key to categories in the following tables: BC - Borough/Burgh constituencies, CC - County constituencies, UC - University constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP - County Members of Parliament, UMP - University Members of Parliament.

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire (historic)

Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen Historic counties of Wales of Wales and a former Administrative divisions of Wales....
(1 County constituency with 2 MPs and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.

Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country

Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country

United Kingdom general election, 1832

Results

Voting summary

Seats summary

Parties and Leaders at the General Election

Dates of Election

Summary of the Constituencies

See also