British general election, 1715

Great Britain general election, 1715
Kingdom of Great Britain
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 Increase 180 Decrease 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

External links

References

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