British general election, 1715

Great Britain general election, 1715

22 January to 9 March

All 558 seats of the House of Commons 280 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Whig Junto Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke Party Whig Tory Leader since c. 1695 July 1714 Seats won 341 217 Seat change 180 152 Popular vote - - Percentage - -

The British general election of 1715 returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. In October 1714, soon after George I had arrived in London after ascending to the throne, he dismissed the Tory cabinet and replaced it with one almost entirely composed of Whigs, as they were responsible for securing his succession. The election of 1715 saw the Whigs win an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons, and afterwards virtually all Tories in central or local government were purged, leading to a period of Whig ascendancy lasting almost fifty years during which Tories were almost entirely excluded from office.

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 the election

The general election was held between 22 January 1715 and 9 March 1715. 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, 1715

External links

• History of Parliament: Members 1715-1760
• History of Parliament: Constituencies 1715-1760

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).