The 1708 British general election was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The election saw the Whigs gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whig-dominated parliament had succeeded in pressuring the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

into accepting the Whig Junto into

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

for the first time since the late 1690s. The Whigs only able to take partial control of the government, however, owing to the continued presence of the moderate Tory Godolphin in the cabinet (as Lord High Treasurer) 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. Following the election, Whig MP Lord Somers was appointed as Lord President of the Council. However, moderate Tory Lord Godolphin remained as Lord High Treasurer and the Godolphin–Marlborough ministry remained in place.

Summary of the constituencies

In England, there was 513 MPs elected from 245 constituencies (203 boroughs, 40 counties, and 2 universities). In Wales, there was 24 MPs from 24 constituencies. In Scotland, there was 45 MPs from 45 constituencies (30 counties and 15 burghs)

Dates of election

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).

Results

In England and Wales, the Whigs Took 268 seats and the Tories took 225, with 20 unclassified. the 45 in Scotland could be classified as ministerial supporters.

Seats summary

References

* ''British Electoral Facts 1832–1999'', compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). (For dates of elections before 1832, see the footnote to Table 5.02).

External links

History of Parliament: Members 1690–1715

History of Parliament: Constituencies 1690–1715
1708 in politics

General election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...