The1868 United Kingdom general election was held between 17 November to 7 December 1868. TheLiberal Party, underWilliam Ewart Gladstone, defeated the governing Conservative minority government, led byBenjamin Disraeli.
This was the first general election to be held after the passage of theReform Act 1867, which enfranchised many male householders, thus greatly increasing the number of men who could vote in elections in the United Kingdom. It was the first election held in the United Kingdom in which more than a million votes were cast; nearly triple the number of votes were cast compared to theprevious election in 1865.[citation needed]
The establishment of theChurch of Ireland was a dominant issue in the 1868 general election. Earlier that year, theHouse of Lords blocked the Established Church (Ireland) Bill, which would have imposed restrictions on the Irish Church. Gladstone's Liberal government, which favoreddisestablishment, used its parliamentary majority to pass theIrish Church Act the following year.[1]
This was the last general election at which all seats were taken by only the two leading parties, although the parties at the time were loose coalitions and party affiliation was not listed on registration papers.[citation needed]
^Dymond, Glenn; Deadman, Hugo (30 June 2006)."The Salisbury Doctrine"(PDF).parliament.uk.Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 April 2025. Retrieved13 January 2026.
Roberts, Matthew (2013). "Election Cartoons and Political Communication in Victorian England".Cultural and Social History.10 (3):369–395.doi:10.2752/147800413X13661166397229.S2CID143879878. (covers 1860 to 1890).
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