The 1812 United Kingdom general election was the fourth general election after the

Union of Great Britain and Ireland The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

, held from 5 October 1812 to 10 November 1812, taking place at the height of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. The fourth United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 29 September 1812, four months after the

Earl of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for e ...

succeeded to the premiership following the

assassination of Spencer Perceval On 11 May 1812, at about 5:15 pm, Spencer Perceval, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Hous ...

. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 24 November 1812, for a maximum seven-year term from that date. The maximum term could be and normally was curtailed, by the monarch dissolving the Parliament, before its term expired.

Political situation

Following the 1807 election the Pittite

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

ministry, led as prime minister by the

Duke of Portland Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ...

(who still claimed to be a Whig), continued to prosecute the

. At the core of the opposition were the

Foxite Foxite was a late 18th-century British political label for Whig followers of Charles James Fox. Fox was the generally acknowledged leader of a faction of the Whigs from 1784 to his death in 1806. The group had developed from successive earlier ...

Whigs, led since the death of

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

in 1806 by

Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for General Charles Grey, 1st Baron Grey. In 1801, he was given the title Baron Grey of Howick in the County of Northumberland, and in 1806 he was created Viscoun ...

(known by the

courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). In some context ...

of Viscount Howick and a member of the House of Commons from 1806 to 1807). However, as Foord observes: "the affairs of the party during most of this period were in a state of uncertainty and confusion". Grey was not the commanding leader Fox had been. After Grey inherited his peerage and went to the House of Lords in 1807, the party leadership in the House of Commons was extremely weak. The Grenvillites, associated with the Whig Prime Minister before Portland,

William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville William Wyndham Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville (25 October 175912 January 1834) was a British Pittite Tory politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1806 to 1807, but was a supporter of the Whigs (British political party), ...

, were also in opposition but were of less significance than the Foxites. Despite this Grenville was recognised as the first Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords. A relative of Grey's wife,

George Ponsonby George Ponsonby (5 March 17558 July 1817), was a British lawyer and Whig politician. He was Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1806 to 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents. Background and education Ponsonby was the second surviving son of ...

, was proposed to Whig MPs by Grey and Grenville as the Whig leader in the House of Commons. Ponsonby was the first person recognised as the official Leader of Opposition in the House of Commons, as opposed to the leader of opposition faction. He proved to be incompetent but could not be persuaded to resign. Until 1812 the Tory faction associated with another former prime minister,

Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (30 May 175715 February 1844) was a British Tory statesman who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1804 and as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1789 to 1801. Addington is b ...

, and were also out of office. The smallest component of the opposition were the

Radicals Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

, who were a largely middle-class group of reformers. They had philosophical differences with the more aristocratic Whigs, but usually ended up voting with them in Parliament. In 1809 Portland, whose health was failing, resigned. The new Tory Prime Minister was

Spencer Perceval Spencer Perceval (1 November 1762 – 11 May 1812) was a British statesman and barrister who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from October 1809 until his assassination in May 1812. He is the only British prime minister to have been as ...

. In April 1812 he brought Sidmouth into the cabinet. A month later, on 11 May 1812, Perceval was assassinated. The premiership passed to the

, who failed to attract Grenville. This was a further stage in the development of a two-party system—just about all Tories supported the government and all Whigs opposed it. The general election of 1812 returned the Tories to power for another term.

Dates of election

At this period there was not one election day. After receiving a writ (a royal command) for the election to be held, the local returning officer fixed the election timetable for the particular constituency or constituencies he was concerned with. Polling in seats with contested elections could continue for many days. An example of what happened in the 1812 election was the Irish constituency of

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

. Walker confirms the date of election was 24 October 1812. Stooks Smith indicates that there were three days of polling, during which time 950 electors came to the

hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

and voted. Longer contests were possible. The polling in the

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

election of 1812 went on for 15 days (with 1,992 electors voting). The time between the first and last contests in the general election was 5 October to 10 November 1812.

Results

Seats summary

Summary of the constituencies

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

(1 County constituency with 2 MPs 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 MPs, by type and country Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country

References

* ''His Majesty's Opposition 1714–1830'', by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press 1964) * (Dates of Elections) Footnote to Table 5.02 ''British Electoral Facts 1832–1999'', compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). * (Types of constituencies – Great Britain) ''British Historical Facts 1760–1830'', by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980). * (Types of constituencies – Ireland) ''Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922'', edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978). {{Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool 1812 elections in the United Kingdom

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 ...

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege ...