UK general election, December 1910

United Kingdom general election, December 1910

← Jan 1910 3–19 December 1910 1918 →
← outgoing members Members elected →
All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader H. H. Asquith Arthur Balfour Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Leader since 30 April 1908 11 June 1902 Leader's seat East Fife City of London Last election 274 seats, 43.1% 272 seats, 46.7% Seats won 272 271 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 2,293,869 2,420,169 Percentage 43.9% 46.3% Swing 0.7% 0.3%   Third party Fourth party   Leader John Redmond George Nicoll Barnes Party Irish Parliamentary Labour Leader since 6 February 1900 14 February 1910 Leader's seat Waterford City Glasgow Blackfriars & Hutchesontown Last election 71 seats, 1.2% 40 seats, 7.6% Seats won 74 42 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 90,416 371,802 Percentage 1.7% 7.1% Swing 0.7% 0.6%
Colours denote the winning party.
Prime Minister before election H. H. Asquith Liberal Subsequent Prime Minister H. H. Asquith Liberal

H. H. Asquith
Liberal

H. H. Asquith
Liberal

The United Kingdom general election of December 1910 was held from 3 to 19 December. It was the last UK general election to be held over several days and the last to be held prior to the First World War (1914–18).

The political context was the effort of the new Liberal Government to pass its budget, with higher taxes on the rich. It was blocked by the House of Lords. Government called an election to get a mandate for the Parliament Act 1911, which would prevent the House of Lords from permanently blocking legislation. After the Liberals won a narrow majority, the House of Lords gave way and the budget was passed.

The Conservatives, led by Arthur Balfour with their Liberal Unionist allies, and the Liberals, led by H. H. Asquith, could not break the deadlock produced in the January general election, with the Conservatives again winning the largest number of votes. The Liberal Party under Asquith formed a government with the support of the Irish Nationalists. This was the last election in which the Liberals won the highest number of seats in the House of Commons. It was also the last United Kingdom national election in which a party other than Labour or the Conservatives won the most seats until the 2014 European Parliament elections.