List of United Kingdom general elections
Introduction This is a list of '''United Kingdom general elections''' (elections for the UK House of Commons) since the first in 1802.The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, before being co-opted to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom, so that Parliament is not included in the table below. There have been 57 general elections held in the UK up to and including the December 2019 election.
Election results Shares of the vote in general elections since 1832 received by Conservatives (blue), Liberals/Liberal Democrats (orange), Labour (red) and others (grey)In 1801, the right to vote in the United Kingdom was severely restricted. Universal suffrage, on an equal basis for men and women over the age of 21, was established in 1928.Before 1918, general elections did not occur on a single day and polling was spread over several weeks.The majority figure given is for the difference between the number of MPs elected at the general election from the party (or parties) of the government, as opposed to all other parties (some of which may have been giving some support to the government, but were not participating in a coalition). The Speaker is excluded from the calculation. A negative majority means that there was a hung parliament (or minority government) following that election. For example, at the 1929 general election, Labour was 42 seats short of forming a majority, and so its majority is listed as −42.If the party in office changed the figure is re-calculated, but no allowance is made for changes after the general election.No attempt is made to define a majority before 1832, when the Reform Act disenfranchised the rotten boroughs; before then the Tory party had an undemocratically entrenched dominance. Particularly in the early part of the period, the complexity of factional alignments, with both the Whig and Tory traditions tending to have some members in government and others in opposition factions simultaneously, make it impossible to produce an objective majority figure. The figures between 1832 and about 1859 are approximate due to problems of defining what was a party in government, as the source provides figures for all Liberals rather than just the Whig component in what developed into the Liberal Party. The Whig and Peelite Prime Ministers in the table below are regarded as having the support of all Liberals.
List of elections ===19th century=== ElectionNo. Dates (during term) Winning party Government vote share  Seat majority  Seats Monarch 1802 (MPs)1st 5 July – 28 August 1802 Henry Addington Tory 658 ''''''50px (William Pitt the Younger) 1806 (MPs)2nd 29 October – 17 December 1806 The Lord Grenville Whig 1807 (MPs)3rd 4 May – 9 June 1807 The Duke of Portland Tory (Spencer Perceval) 1812 (MPs)4th 5 October – 10 November 1812 The Earl of Liverpool 1818 (MPs)5th 17 June – 18 July 1818 1820 (MPs)6th 6 March – 14 April 1820 ''''''50px 1826 (MPs)7th 7 June – 12 July 1826 George Canning (The Viscount Goderich) (The Duke of Wellington) 1830 (MPs)8th 29 July – 1 September 1830 The Duke of Wellington Tory N/A N/A ''''''50px 1831 (MPs)9th 28 April – 1 June 1831 The Earl Grey Whig N/A 135 1832 (MPs)10th 10 December 1832 – 8 January 1833 The Earl Grey 67.0%  225 (The Viscount Melbourne) (The Duke of Wellington) Conservative29.2% −308 (Sir Robert Peel) 1835 (MPs)11th 6 January – 6 February 1835 Sir Robert Peel 42.8%  −113 (C) (The Viscount Melbourne) Whig 57.2%  113 1837 (MPs)12th 24 July – 18 August 1837 The Viscount Melbourne 52.4%  29 '''Victoria'''50px 1841 (MPs)13th 29 June – 22 July 1841 The Viscount Melbourne Whig 46.2%  N/A (Sir Robert Peel) Conservative 51.6% 77 (Lord John Russell) Whig 46.2%  N/A 1847 (MPs)14th 29 July – 26 August 1847 Lord John Russell Whig 53.8% −72 656 (The Earl of Derby) Conservative 42.6%  N/A 1852 (MPs)15th 7–31 July 1852 The Earl of Derby Conservative 41.9% 7 654 (The Earl of Aberdeen) Peelite N/A N/A (The Viscount Palmerston) Whig 57.9%  1857 (MPs)16th 27 March – 24 April 1857 The Viscount Palmerston Whig 64.8%  100 (The Earl of Derby) Conservative 33.5% N/A 1859 (MPs)17th 28 April – 18 May 1859 The Earl of Derby Conservative 34.2%  N/A (The Viscount Palmerston) Liberal 65.8%  59 1865 (MPs)18th 11–24 July 1865 The Viscount Palmerston 59.5%  81 658 (The Earl Russell) N/A (The Earl of Derby) Conservative 40.5%  (Benjamin Disraeli) 1868 (MPs)19th 17 November – 7 December 1868 William Ewart Gladstone Liberal 61.2%  115 1874 (MPs)20th 31 January – 17 February 1874 Benjamin Disraeli Conservative 44.3%  49 652 1880 (MPs)21st 31 March – 27 April 1880 William Ewart Gladstone Liberal 54.7%  51 (The Marquess of Salisbury) Conservative 42.5%  N/A 1885 (MPs)22nd 24 November – 18 December 1885 The Marquess of Salisbury Conservative 43.0%  N/A 670 (William Ewart Gladstone) Liberal 47.7%  −16 1886 (MPs)23rd 1–27 July 1886 The Marquess of Salisbury Conservative & Liberal Unionists 51.4%  58 1892 (MPs)24th 4–26 July 1892 The Marquess of Salisbury 47.0%  N/A (William Ewart Gladstone) Liberal 45.4%  −126 (The Earl of Rosebery) (The Marquess of Salisbury) Conservative & Liberal Unionists 47.0%  N/A 1895 (MPs)25th 13 July – 7 August 1895 The Marquess of Salisbury Conservative & Liberal Unionists 49.3%  153 1900 (MPs)26th 26 September – 24 October 1900 The Marquess of Salisbury Conservative & Liberal Unionists 50.2%  135 (Arthur Balfour) 50.2%  N/A (Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman) Liberal 45.1%  Election Date (during term) Winning party Government vote share  Seat majority  Seats Monarch===20th century=== ElectionNo. Date (during term) Winning party Government vote share Seat majority  Seats Turnout Monarch 1906 (MPs)27th 12 January – 8 February 1906 Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Liberal 48.9% 129 670 ''''''50px (H. H. Asquith) 1910 (MPs)28th 15 January – 10 February 1910 H. H. Asquith Liberal (minority government) 43.5% −122 670  1910 (MPs)29th 3–19 December 1910 H. H. Asquith 44.2% −126 ''''''50px (David Lloyd George) ''The election that would have been due by 1916 as a result of the Parliament Act 1911 was not held due to the First World War (1914–1918).'' 1918 (MPs)30th 14 December 1918 David Lloyd George Liberal (coalition) 53.0% 238 707 57.2% (Bonar Law) Conservative 1922 (MPs)31st 15 November 1922 Bonar Law 38.5% 74 615 73.0% (Stanley Baldwin) 1923 (MPs)32nd 6 December 1923 Stanley Baldwin Conservative (minority government) 38.0% N/A 615 71.1% (Ramsay MacDonald) Labour (minority government) 30.7% −98 1924 (MPs)33rd 29 October 1924 Stanley Baldwin Conservative 46.8% 210 615 77.0% 1929 (MPs)34th 30 May 1929 Ramsay MacDonald Labour (minority government) 37.1% −42 615 76.3% 1931 (MPs)35th 27 October 1931 Ramsay MacDonald National Labour (National Government) 67.2% 492 615 76.4% 1935 (MPs)36th 14 November 1935 Stanley Baldwin Conservative (National Government) 51.8% 242 615 71.1% (Neville Chamberlain) 51.8% 242''''''50px (Winston Churchill) Conservative (war-time coalition) 97.7% 609 Conservative (caretaker government) 51.8% 242''The election due by 1940 was not held due to the Second World War (1939–1945).'' 1945 (MPs)37th 5 July 1945 Clement Attlee Labour 47.7% 146 640 72.8% 1950 (MPs)38th 23 February 1950 46.1% 5 625 83.9% 1951 (MPs)39th 25 October 1951 Sir Winston Churchill Conservative 48.0% 17 625 82.6% (Sir Anthony Eden) ''''''50px 1955 (MPs)40th 26 May 1955 Sir Anthony Eden 49.7% 60630 76.8% (Harold Macmillan) 1959 (MPs)41st 8 October 1959 Harold Macmillan 49.4% 100 78.7% (Sir Alec Douglas-Home) 1964 (MPs)42nd 15 October 1964 Harold Wilson Labour 44.1% 4 630 77.1% 1966 (MPs)43rd 31 March 1966 48.0% 98 75.8% 1970 (MPs)44th 18 June 1970 Edward Heath Conservative 46.4% 30 630  72.0% 1974 (MPs)45th 28 February 1974 Harold Wilson Labour (minority government) 37.2% −33 630 78.8% 1974 (MPs)46th 10 October 1974 Harold Wilson Labour 39.2% 3 635 72.8% (James Callaghan) 1979 (MPs)47th 3 May 1979 Margaret Thatcher Conservative 43.9% 43 635 76.0% 1983 (MPs)48th 9 June 1983 42.4% 144 650 72.7% 1987 (MPs)49th 11 June 1987 Margaret Thatcher 42.2% 102 75.3% (John Major) 1992 (MPs)50th 9 April 1992 John Major 41.9% 21 651 77.7% 1997 (MPs)51st 1 May 1997 Tony Blair Labour 43.2% 179 659 71.4% Election Date (during term) Winning party Government vote share Seat majority  Seats Turnout Monarch===21st century=== ElectionNo. Date (during term) Winning party Government vote share Seat majority  Seats Turnout Monarch 2001 (MPs)52nd 7 June 2001 Tony Blair Labour 40.7% 167 659 59.4% ''''''50px 2005 (MPs)53rd 5 May 2005 Tony Blair 35.2% 66 646 61.4% (Gordon Brown) 2010 (MPs)54th 6 May 2010 David Cameron Conservative (coalition) 59.1% 78 650 65.1% 2015 (MPs)55th 7 May 2015 David Cameron Conservative 36.8% 12 650 66.1% (Theresa May) 2017 (MPs)56th 8 June 2017 Theresa May Conservative (confidence and supply government) 42.3% −5 650 68.8% (Boris Johnson) 2019 (MPs)57th 12 December 2019 Boris Johnson Conservative 43.6% 80 650 67.3% (Liz Truss) ''''''50px (Rishi Sunak)Next58thBy January 2025To Be DecidedTo Be DecidedTo Be DecidedTBDTBDTBD- Election Date (during term) Winning party Government vote share Seat majority  Seats Turnout Monarch
See also * List of UK Conservative Party general election manifestos* List of UK Labour Party general election manifestos* List of UK Liberal Party general election manifestos* Referendums in the United Kingdom
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