1747 British general election explained

Country:Kingdom of Great Britain
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1741 British general election
Previous Year:1741
Previous Mps:outgoing members
Next Election:1754 British general election
Next Year:1754
Majority Seats:280
Elected Mps:elected members
Image1:Henry Pelham by William Hoare.jpg
Leader1:Henry Pelham
Party1:Whigs (British political party)
Leaders Seat1:Sussex
Seats1:338
Seat Change1:52
Leader2:Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn
Party2:Tories (British political party)
Leaders Seat2:Denbighshire
Seats2:117
Seat Change2:19
Image3:No image.svg
Colour3:FFFF00
Leader3:
Party3:Opposition / Patriot Whigs
Leaders Seat3:
Seats3:94
Seat Change3:37
Prime Minister
Posttitle:Prime Minister after election
Before Election:Henry Pelham
Before Party:Whigs (British political party)
After Election:Henry Pelham
After Party:Whigs (British political party)

The 1747 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 10th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election saw Henry Pelham's Whig government increase its majority and the Tories continue their decline. By 1747, thirty years of Whig oligarchy and systematic corruption had weakened party ties substantially; despite that Walpole, the main reason for the split that led to the creation of the Patriot Whig faction, had resigned, there were still almost as many Whigs in opposition to the ministry as there were Tories, and the real struggle for power was between various feuding factions of Whig aristocrats rather than between the old parties. The Tories had effectively become an irrelevant group of country gentlemen who had resigned themselves to permanent opposition.

Summary of the constituencies

See 1796 British general election for details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.

Dates of election

The general election was held between 26 June 1747 and 4 August 1747.

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).

Results

Seats summary

See also

References