Country: | Kingdom of Great Britain |
Type: | parliamentary |
Ongoing: | no |
Previous Year: | 1702 (Scotland) 1705 (England and Wales) |
Previous Mps: | List of members of the House of Commons at Westminster 1705–1708 |
Next Election: | 1710 British general election |
Next Year: | 1710 |
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, 1708 |
Image1: | Portrait of John Somers, Baron Somers.jpg |
Leader1: | Lord Somers |
Party1: | Whigs (British political party) |
Seats1: | 291 |
Seat Change1: | 45 |
Leader2: | Earl of Godolphin |
Party2: | Tories (British political party) |
Seats2: | 222 |
Seat Change2: | 45 |
Map2 Caption: | The House of Commons following the 1708 General Election |
Map2 Image: | File:English Parliament of General Election 1708.svg |
The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland.
The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whig-dominated parliament had succeeded in pressuring the Queen into accepting the Junto into the government for the first time since the late 1690s. The Whigs were unable to take full control of the government, however, owing to the continued presence of the moderate Tory Godolphin in the cabinet and the opposition of the Queen. Contests were held in 95 of the 269 English and Welsh constituencies and 28 of the 45 Scottish constituencies.
See 1797 British general election for details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.
The first general election held since the Union took place between 30 April 1708 and 7 July 1708. At this period elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each county or borough fixed the precise date (see hustings for details of the conduct of the elections).