Italian general election, 1874

Italian general election, 1874

8–15 November 1874

All 508 seats to the Italian Chamber of Deputies   Majority party Minority party   Leader Marco Minghetti Agostino Depretis Party Historical Right Historical Left Leader's seat Legnago Stradella Seats won 276 232 Seat change 43 37 Popular vote 156,784 (est.) 150,119 (est.) Percentage 53.6% 46.4%

Prime Minister before election Marco Minghetti Historical Right Elected Prime Minister Marco Minghetti Historical Right

The 1874 Italian general election was held in Italy on 8 November, with a second round of voting on 15 November.^[1] They were a snap election, called by Prime Minister Marco Minghetti to strengthen his majority.

Only 571,939 men of a total population of around 28 million were entitled to vote.^[2] Right-wing candidates emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament with around 48% of the seats in Parliament.^[3] They were largely aristocrats representing rentiers from the north of the country, and held moderate political views including loyalty to the crown and low government spending.^[4]

The race

Prime Minister Marco Minghetti and his influent Minister of the Treasury Quintino Sella were involved into an ambitious program of budget which needed a strong majority, for which they tried to oblige the Independents to choose their side, beginning to build a two-party system as in the United Kingdom.^[5] However, in the Italian non-partisan political system, hugely affected by localism and corruption, their bet was equivalent to an all-in that afterwards they lost.^[6]

The election did not give to Minghetti the advantage he was hoping, especially for the high support to the opposition in Southern Italy.^[7] His government survived, but the bipolarisation of the Parliament he had imposed, strengthened the Historical Left so that it could take the leadership of the country. Two years later, MPs from Tuscany became dissatisfied with the government after it refused to intervene in the financial problems of Florence. The government was defeated on a vote on nationalising railways on 18 March 1876 and was forced to resign.^[8] As a result, Agostino Depretis, leader of the left-wing bloc, became Prime Minister, with 414 of the 508 MPs supporting the government.^[8] Early elections were held in November.

Parties and leaders

Results

← Summary of November 1874 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	Historical Right	156,784	53.6	276	+43
	Historical Left	150,119	46.4	232	+37
Invalid/blank votes		11,614	–	–	–
Total		318,517	100	508	±0
Registered voters/turnout		571,939	55.7	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

Elections and referendums in Italy
General elections	1861 1865 1867 1870 1874 1876 1880 1882 1886 1890 1892 1895 1897 1900 1904 1909 1913 1919 1921 1924 1929 1934 1946 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1972 1976 1979 1983 1987 1992 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 2013 next
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Regional elections	1947 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Local elections	1946 1951 1956 1960 1964 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Referendums	1946 1974 1978 1981 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 2005 2006 2009 2011 2016 (Apr) 2016 (Dec)
See also: Elections in Abruzzo Aosta Valley Apulia Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardy Marche Molise Piedmont Sardinia Sicily Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Tuscany Umbria Veneto