British general election, 1708
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All 558 seats of the House of Commons 280 seats were needed for a majority |
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45The British general election, 1708, was the first general election to be held after the Acts of Union had united the Parliaments of England and Scotland. The new Parliament of Great Britain was essentially a continuation of the English parliament elected in 1705, with the addition of 45 Scottish Members to the Commons and sixteen Scottish Representative peers to the Lords.
The election saw the Whigs finally gain a majority in the House of Commons, and by November the Whig-dominated parliament had succeeded in pressuring the Queen into accepting the Junto into the government for the first time since the late 1690s. The Whigs were unable to take full control of the government, however, owing to the continued presence of the moderate Godolphin in the cabinet and the opposition of the Queen. Contests were held in 95 of the 269 English and Welsh constituencies and 28 of the 45 new Scottish constituencies.
See British general election, 1796 for details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.
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).
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