British general election, 1734

Great Britain general election, 1734

22 April to 6 June

All 558 seats of the House of Commons 280 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Robert Walpole Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke William Pulteney Party Whig Tory Opposition Whig Leader's seat King's Lynn - Middlesex Seats won 330 145 83 Seat change 85 17 68 Popular vote - - - Percentage - - -

Prime Minister of Great Britain before election Robert Walpole Whig Prime Minister of Great Britain Robert Walpole Whig

The British general election, 1734, returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's increasingly unpopular Whig government lost ground to the Tories and the opposition Whigs, but still had a secure majority in the House of Commons. The Patriot Whigs were joined in opposition by a group of Whig members led by Lord Cobham known as the Cobhamites, or 'Cobham's Cubs'

Summary of the Constituencies

See British general election, 1796 for details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.

Dates of Election

The general election was held between 22 April 1734 and 6 June 1734.

At this period elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each county or parliamentary borough fixed the precise date (see hustings for details of the conduct of the elections).

See also

• List of Parliaments of Great Britain
• MPs elected in the British general election, 1734

References

• British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). (For dates of elections before 1832, see the footnote to Table 5.02).