| Country: | Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1790 British general election |
| Previous Year: | 1790 |
| Previous Mps: | List of MPs elected in the British general election, 1790 |
| Next Election: | 1802 United Kingdom general election |
| Next Year: | 1802 (UK) |
| Seats For Election: | All 558 seats in the House of Commons |
| Majority Seats: | 280 |
| Elected Mps: | List of MPs elected in the British general election, 1796 |
| Image1: | George-Romney-xx-William-Pitt-the-Younger-xx-Tate-Britain.jpg |
| Leader1: | William Pitt |
| Leaders Seat1: | Cambridge University |
| Party1: | Pittite |
| Seats1: | 424 |
| Seat Change1: | 84 |
| Leader2: | Charles James Fox |
| Leaders Seat2: | Westminster |
| Party2: | Foxite |
| Colour2: | F8B878 |
| Seats2: | 95 |
| Seat Change2: | 88 |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister after election |
| Before Election: | William Pitt |
| Before Party: | Pittite |
| After Election: | William Pitt |
| After Party: | Pittite |
| Map2 Image: | File:1796 British GE map - Westminster.svg |
| Map2 Caption: | Composition of the House of Commons after the election |
The 1796 British general election returned members to serve in the 18th and last House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain. They were summoned before the Union of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801. The members in office in Great Britain at the end of 1800 continued to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom (1801 - 02).
Great Britain had been at war with France since 1792. The Prime Minister since 1783, William Pitt the Younger, led a broad wartime coalition of Whig and Tory politicians.
The principal opposition to Pitt was a relatively weak faction of Whigs, led by Charles James Fox. For four years after 1797 opposition attendance at Westminster was sporadic as Fox pursued a strategy of secession from Parliament. Only a small group, led by George Tierney, had attended frequently to oppose the ministers. As Foord observes "only once did the minority reach seventy-five, and it was often less than ten".[1]
The period between the first and last returns was 25 May to 29 June 1796.[2]
Monmouthshire (One County constituency with two members and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.
Table 1: Constituencies and Members, by type and country[3]
| Country | Total Members | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 202 | 39 | 2 | 243 | 404 | 78 | 4 | 486 | ||
| 13 | 13 | 0 | 26 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 27 | ||
| 15 | 30 | 0 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 0 | 45 | ||
| 230 | 82 | 2 | 314 | 432 | 122 | 4 | 558 |
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country
| Country | BC×1 | BC×2 | BC×4 | CC×1 | CC×2 | UC×2 | Total C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 196 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 243 | ||
| 13 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 26 | ||
| 15 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 45 | ||
| 32 | 196 | 2 | 42 | 40 | 2 | 314 |