1865 United Kingdom general election

1865 United Kingdom general election

← 1859 11–24 July 1865 (1865-07-11 – 1865-07-24) 1868 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 658 seats in the House of Commons 330 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Viscount Palmerston Earl of Derby Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 12 June 1859 July 1846 Leader's seat Tiverton House of Lords Last election 356 seats, 65.8% 298 seats, 34.2% Seats won 369[a] 289 Seat change 13 9 Popular vote 508,821 346,035 Percentage 59.5% 40.5% Swing 6.3 pp 6.3 pp
Colours denote the winning party—as shown in § Results
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Viscount Palmerston Liberal Prime Minister after election Viscount Palmerston Liberal

The 1865 United Kingdom general election saw the Liberals, led by Lord Palmerston, increase their large majority over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives to 80. The Whig Party changed its name to the Liberal Party between the previous election and this one.

Palmerston died in October the same year and was succeeded by Lord John Russell as Prime Minister.^[1] Despite the Liberal majority, the party was divided by the issue of further parliamentary reform, and Russell resigned after being defeated in a vote in the House of Commons in 1866, leading to minority Conservative governments under Derby and then Benjamin Disraeli.

This was the last United Kingdom general election until 2019 where a party increased its majority after having been returned to office at the previous election with a reduced majority.

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