| Election Name: | 1859 United Kingdom general election |
| Country: | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1857 United Kingdom general election |
| Previous Year: | 1857 |
| Previous Mps: | List of MPs elected in the 1857 United Kingdom general election |
| Next Election: | 1865 United Kingdom general election |
| Next Year: | 1865 |
| Seats For Election: | All 654 seats in the House of Commons |
| Majority Seats: | 328 |
| Leader1: | Viscount Palmerston |
| Leader Since1: | 6 February 1855 |
| Party1: | Liberal Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat1: | Tiverton |
| Last Election1: | 377 seats, 64.8% |
| Seats1: | 356 |
| Seat Change1: | 21 |
| Popular Vote1: | 372,117 |
| Percentage1: | 65.8% |
| Swing1: | 1.0% |
| Leader2: | Earl of Derby |
| Leader Since2: | July 1846 |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Leaders Seat2: | House of Lords |
| Last Election2: | 264 seats, 33.5% |
| Seats2: | 298 |
| Seat Change2: | 34 |
| Popular Vote2: | 193,232 |
| Percentage2: | 34.2% |
| Swing2: | 0.7% |
| Map Size: | 438px |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister after election |
| Before Election: | Earl of Derby |
| Before Party: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| After Election: | Viscount Palmerston |
| After Party: | Whigs (British political party) |
| Map2 Image: | File:1859 UK GE Composition diagram.svg |
| Map2 Caption: | Composition of the House of Commons after the election |
| Elected Members: | List of MPs elected in the 1859 United Kingdom general election |
The 1859 United Kingdom general election returned the Liberal Party to a majority of seats (356 out of 654) in the House of Commons. The Earl of Derby's Conservatives formed a minority government. but despite having made small overall gains in the election, Derby's government was defeated in a confidence vote by an alliance of Palmerston's Whigs together with Peelites, Radicals, and the Irish Brigade. Palmerston subsequently formed a new government from this alliance which is now considered to be the first Liberal Party administration.
There is no separate tally of votes or seats for the Peelites. They did not contest elections as an organised party but more as independent Free trade Conservatives with varying degrees of distance from the two main parties.
It was also the last general election entered by the Chartists, before their organisation was dissolved. As of, this is the last election in which the Conservatives won the most seats in Wales.[1]
The election was the quietest and least competitive between 1832 and 1885, with most county elections being uncontested. The election also saw the lowest number of candidates between 1832 and 1885, with Tory gains potentially being the result of a lack of opposition as much as a change in public opinion.According to A.J.P. Taylor:
the government which Palmerston organized in June 1859 was a coalition of a different kind: not a coalition of groups which looked back to the past, but a coalition which anticipated the future. Had it not been for Palmerston himself—too individual, too full of personality to be fitted into a party-pattern—it would have been the first Liberal government in our history. Everything that was important in it was Liberal—finance, administrative reform, its very composition: the first government with unmistakable middle-class Free Traders as members.[2]
|}
| Party | Candidates | Unopposed | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 392 | 157 | 306 | 314,708 | 66.6 | |||||
| & Peelites | 327 | 160 | 245 | 157,974 | 33.4 | ||||
| Chartist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 0.0 | ||||
| Total | 720 | 317 | 551 | 472,833 | 100 | ||||
| Party | Candidates | Unopposed | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 330 | 109 | 251 | 307,949 | 67.1 | |||||
| & Peelite | 286 | 129 | 209 | 152,591 | 32.9 | ||||
| Chartist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 151 | 0.0 | ||||
| Total | 617 | 238 | 460 | 460,691 | 100 | ||||
| Party | Candidates | Unopposed | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | 34 | 40 | 5,174 | 66.4 | |||||
| & Peelite | 17 | 11 | 13 | 2,616 | 33.6 | ||||
| Total | 61 | 45 | 53 | 7,790 | 100 | ||||
| Party | Candidates | Unopposed | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| & Peelite | 18 | 14 | 17 | 2,767 | 63.6 | ||||
| 18 | 14 | 15 | 1,585 | 36.4 | |||||
| Total | 36 | 28 | 32 | 4,352 | 100 | ||||
See main article: 1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland.
| Party | Candidates | Unopposed | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| & Peelite | 67 | 36 | 53 | 35,258 | 38.9 | ||||
| 73 | 26 | 50 | 57,409 | 61.1 | |||||
| Total | 140 | 62 | 103 | 92,667 | 100 | ||||
| Party | Candidates | Unopposed | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| & Peelite | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Total | 6 | 6 | 6 | 100 | |||||