Parliaments of Great Britain
Anne   1st 1707   2nd 1708   3rd 1710   4th (with George I) 1713
George I   4th (with Anne) 1713   5th 1715   6th (with George II) 1722
George II   6th (with George I) 1722   7th 1727   8th 1734   9th 1741   10th 1747   11th (with George III) 1754
George III   11th (with George II) 1754   12th 1761   13th 1768   14th 1774   15th 1780   16th 1784   17th 1790   18th 1796
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Elections in theKingdom of Great Britain were principally general elections and by-elections to theHouse of Commons of Great Britain. General elections did not have fixed dates, as parliament was summoned and dissolved within theroyal prerogative, although on the advice of the ministers of the Crown. The first such general election was that of1708, and the last that of1796.

In 1801, theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland replaced the Kingdom of Great Britain and theKingdom of Ireland. For the period after 1801, seeElections in the United Kingdom.

For details of the national elections of Great Britain, see:

• 1707 British general election
• 1708 British general election
• 1710 British general election
• 1713 British general election
• 1715 British general election
• 1722 British general election
• 1727 British general election
• 1734 British general election
• 1741 British general election
• 1747 British general election
• 1754 British general election
• 1761 British general election
• 1768 British general election
• 1774 British general election
• 1780 British general election
• 1784 British general election
• 1790 British general election
• 1796 British general election

Politics in Great Britain was dominated by theWhigs and theTories, although neither were political parties in the modern sense but loose alliances of interests and individuals. The Whigs included many of the leading aristocratic dynasties who were most committed to theProtestant settlement of the throne, with later support from the emerging industrial interests and rich city merchants, while the Tories were associated with thelanded gentry, theChurch of England and theChurch of Scotland.^[1]

Members of Parliament needed to appeal to a much smaller electorate than is the case today, especially in theboroughs. In the case of therotten and pocket boroughs, a majority of the votes was usually controlled by one person, or by a small group. This gave less power to organized political parties and more to influential individuals, some of whom had themselves elected in the constituencies they controlled. Such seats were also sold for hard cash. Thus, many members were fundamentallyIndependents, even if they attached themselves to one party or another during their parliamentary careers.^[1]

There were few local elections in the Kingdom of Great Britain as the concept is now understood. Local government existed only in rudimentary forms. Much of the civil administration of rural England was carried out by informal, unelected parish councils known asvestries, with criminal matters dealt with byQuarter Sessions andmagistrates, and similar arrangements in Scotland. In theCity of London, annual elections were held to theCorporation of London, but on a limited suffrage, and someimprovement commissioners were elected by ratepayers, if not co-opted, while the borough and city corporations elsewhere were generally not directly elected.

For further information on local corporations during this period, see the reformingMunicipal Corporations Act 1835 andHistory of local government in Scotland.

• List of parliaments of Great Britain
• History of the British constitution
• List of counties and boroughs of the Unreformed House of Commons at 1800
• List of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland from 1707
• Scottish Westminster constituencies
• Electoral system
• Election agent
• Polling agent
• Counting agent
• University constituency
• Rotten borough

• Elections in the Kingdom of Great Britain

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