1885 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1885

← 1880 24 November–18 December 1885 1886 →
← outgoing members Members elected →
All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader William Ewart Gladstone Lord Salisbury Charles Stewart Parnell Party Liberal Conservative Irish Parliamentary Leader since April 1880 April 1881 17 October 1882 Leader's seat Midlothian Marquess of Salisbury Cork City Last election 352 seats, 54.7% 237 seats, 42.5% 63 seats, 2.8% Seats won 319 247 86 Seat change 33 10 23 Popular vote 2,199,198 2,020,927 310,608 Percentage 47.4% 43.5% 6.9% Swing 7.3% 1.0% 4.1%
Colours denote the winning party.
Prime Minister before election Lord Salisbury Conservative Subsequent Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone Liberal

Lord Salisbury
Conservative

William Ewart Gladstone
Liberal

The 1885 United Kingdom general election was from 24 November to 18 December 1885. This was the first general election after an extension of the franchise and redistribution of seats. For the first time a majority of adult males could vote and most constituencies returned a single-member to Parliament. It saw the Liberals, led by William Ewart Gladstone, win the most seats, but not an overall majority. As the Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between them and the Conservatives, this exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and led to a split and another general election the following year.

Total votes cast: 4,638,235. All parties shown.

As well as an increase of 12 seats due to the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, of particular note in Scotland was the splintering of the Liberal representation. Some 7 MPs were returned as Independent Liberals, with Edinburgh in particular seeing 3 of its 4 constituencies return Independent Liberals.

In the western Highlands the Crofters Party emerged as the dominant force, taking four constituencies. The Independent Liberal MP elected for the Wick Burghs also aligned with the group. The emergence of the group was owed to the Representation of the People Act 1884, which had reduced the property qualifications for voters; as a result many Crofters were able to vote for the first time in 1885.