1818 United Kingdom general election

← 1812 17 June – 18 July 1818[1] 1820 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All658 seats in theHouse of Commons 330 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Earl of Liverpool Earl Grey Party Tory(Pittite) Whig Leader since 8 June 1812 — Last election 399 196 Seats won 280 175 Seat change 120 21
Composition of theHouse of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Earl of Liverpool Tory Prime Minister after election Earl of Liverpool Tory

The1818 United Kingdom general election was the 5th general election after theActs of Union 1800, held on 17 June 1818 to 18 July 1818. It saw theWhigs gain a few seats, but theTories under theEarl of Liverpool retained a majority of around 90 seats. The Whigs were divided over their response to growingsocial unrest and the introduction of theCorn Laws.

The fifth United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 10 June 1818. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 4 August 1818, for amaximum 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. The sixth Parliament lasted only about a year and a half, asKing George III's death on 29 January 1820 triggered a dissolution of Parliament.

The Tory leader was the Earl of Liverpool, who had been prime minister sincehis predecessor's assassination in 1812. The ToryLeader of the House of Commons wasRobert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh.

The Whig Party had long suffered from weak leadership, particularly in the House of Commons.

At the time of the general election, theEarl Grey was the leading figure amongst the Whig peers. The last Whig Prime Minister, theLord Grenville, had retired from active politics in 1817. It was likely that Earl Grey would have been invited to form a government, had the Whigs come to power, although in this era the monarch rather than the governing party decided which individual would be prime minister.

TheLeader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, until his death in 1817, wasGeorge Ponsonby, Lady Grey's uncle. About a year after Ponsonby's death,George Tierney reluctantly became the recognised Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons. However, after 1819 he did not carry out the functions of leader although he retained the title.

Monmouthshire (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

Country	BC	CC	UC	Total C	BMP	CMP	UMP	Total MPs
England	202	39	2	243	404	78	4	486
Wales	13	13	0	26	13	14	0	27
Scotland	15	30	0	45	15	30	0	45
Ireland	33	32	1	66	35	64	1	100
Total	263	114	3	380	467	176	5	658

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

Country	BCx1	BCx2	BCx4	CCx1	CCx2	UCx1	UCx2	Total C
England	4	196	2	0	39	0	2	243
Wales	13	0	0	12	1	0	0	26
Scotland	15	0	0	30	0	0	0	45
Ireland	31	2	0	0	32	1	0	66
Total	63	198	2	42	72	1	2	380

• United Kingdom general elections

• His Majesty's Opposition 1714–1830, by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press 1964)
• (Dates of Elections) Footnote to Table 5.02British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000).
• (Types of constituencies – Great Britain)British Historical Facts 1760–1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980).
• (Types of constituencies – Ireland)Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978).

• 1818 elections in the United Kingdom
• 1818 in the United Kingdom
• General elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom
• June 1818
• July 1818
• August 1818
• 1810s elections in Ireland
• Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
• Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool

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