United Kingdom general election, 1857

← 1852

27 March–24 April 1857

1859 →

All 654 seats in the House of Commons
328 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party

Leader	The Viscount Palmerston	The Earl of Derby
Party	Whig	Conservative
Leader since	6 February 1855	July 1846
Leader's seat	Tiverton	Earl of Derby
Last election	324 seats, 57.9%	330 seats, 41.9%
Seats won	377	264 (including Peelites)
Seat change	53	66
Popular vote	464,127	239,712
Percentage	65.9%	34.0%
Swing	7.0%	7.9%

PM before election

Lord Palmerston
Whig

Subsequent PM

Lord Palmerston
Whig

1847 election • MPs
1852 election • MPs
1857 election • MPs
1859 election • MPs
1865 election • MPs

Lord Palmerston
Whig

In the 1857 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, finally won a majority in the House of Commons as the Conservative vote fell significantly. The election had been provoked by a vote of censure in Palmerston's government over his approach to the Arrow affair which led to the Second Opium War.

Total votes cast: 716,552. "Others" are mostly Irish Independent Opposition. The Conservative total votes cast and MPs includes around 26 Peelites - some reference works claim it was as few as 18.

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