1841 United Kingdom general election

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1841 United Kingdom general election

← 1837 29 June – 22 July 1841 (1841-06-29 – 1841-07-22) 1847 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 658 seats in the House of Commons 330 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sir Robert Peel Viscount Melbourne Daniel O'Connell Party Conservative Whig Irish Repeal Leader since 19 December 1834 16 July 1834 15 April 1840 Leader's seat Tamworth House of Lords Dublin City (defeated) County Cork Last election 314 seats, 47.6% 344 seats, 52.4% Compact with Whigs Seats before 314 314 30 Seats won 367 271 20 Seat change 53 43 10 Popular vote 306,314 273,902 12,537 Percentage 51.6% 46.2% 2.1% Swing 4.0% 6.2% New party
Colours denote the winning party
Composition of the Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Viscount Melbourne Whig Prime Minister after election Sir Robert Peel Conservative

In the 1841 United Kingdom general election, there was a big swing as Sir Robert Peel's Conservatives took control of the House of Commons. Melbourne's Whigs had seen their support in the Commons erode over the previous years. Whilst Melbourne enjoyed the firm support of the young Queen Victoria, his ministry had seen increasing defeats in the Commons, culminating in the defeat of the government's budget in May 1841 by 36 votes, and by 1 vote in a 4 June 1841 vote of no confidence put forward by Peel. According to precedent, Melbourne's defeat required his resignation. However, the cabinet decided to ask for a dissolution, which was opposed by Melbourne personally (he wished to resign, as he had attempted in 1839), but he came to accept the wishes of the ministers. Melbourne requested the Queen dissolve Parliament, leading to an election.^[1] The Queen thus prorogued Parliament on 22 June.^[2]

The Conservatives campaigned mainly on an 11-point programme modified from their previous electoral effort and designed by Peel, whilst the Whigs emphasised reforming the import duties on corn, replacing the existing sliding scale with a uniform rate. The Whig position lost them support amongst protectionists, and the Whigs saw heavy losses in constituencies like the West Riding, where aristocratic Whig families who held a strong tradition of unbroken representation in Parliament were rejected by the electorate.

O'Connell, who had been governing with the Whigs through a compact, felt the government's unpopularity rub off on him. His own party was shattered in the election. Barely a dozen Repealers retained their seats, and O'Connell himself lost in Dublin while his son was defeated in Carlow.^[3] The Chartists picked up only a few votes.