United Kingdom general election, 1918

United Kingdom general election, 1918

Dec 1910 ← 14 December 1918 → 1922

outgoing members ← → elected members

All 707 seats to the House of Commons 354 seats needed for a majority Turnout 57.2%   First party Second party Third party   Leader Andrew Bonar Law David Lloyd George Éamon de Valera Party Conservative Coalition Liberal Sinn Féin Leader since 1911 7 December 1916 1917 Leader's seat Glasgow Central Caernarvon Boroughs Clare East and Mayo East Last election 271 seats, 40.4% N/A N/A Seats won 379* 127 73 Seat change 108 N/A N/A Popular vote 4,083,419 1,396,590 497,107 Percentage 39.2% 13.4% 4.6% Swing 7.1% N/A 4.6%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader William Adamson H. H. Asquith George Nicoll Barnes Party Labour Liberal National Democratic Leader since 24 October 1917 30 April 1908 1918 Leader's seat West Fife East Fife (defeated) Glasgow Gorbals Last election 42 seats, 7.1% 272 seats, 40.5% (as unified Liberal party†) N/A Seats won 57 36 13 (with other Coalition Labour) Seat change 15 236 N/A Popular vote 2,245,777 1,388,784 197,475 Percentage 21.5% 13.3% 1.9% Swing 14.4% 30.5% N/A

* The Conservative total includes 47 Conservative candidates elected without the Coalition coupon, of whom 23 were Irish Unionists. † Both Liberal factions are here compared with the united Liberal Party's result in December 1910. Therefore the figures for swing, etc., do not add up.

PM before election David Lloyd George Coalition Liberal Subsequent PM David Lloyd George Coalition Liberal

Jan 1910 election • MPs

Dec 1910 election • MPs

1918 election • MPs

1922 election • MPs

1923 election • MPs

^* The Conservative total includes 47 Conservative candidates elected without the Coalition coupon, of whom 23 were Irish Unionists.

^† Both Liberal factions are here compared with the united Liberal Party's result in December 1910. Therefore the figures for swing, etc., do not add up.

David Lloyd George
Coalition Liberal

David Lloyd George
Coalition Liberal

The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was called immediately after the Armistice with Germany which ended World War I, and held on Saturday 14 December 1918. It was the first general election to be held on a single day, although the count did not take place until 28 December due to the time taken to transport votes from soldiers serving overseas.

It resulted in a landslide victory for the coalition government of David Lloyd George, who had replaced H. H. Asquith as prime minister during the war.

It was the first election to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918. It was thus the first election in which women over the age of 30, and all men over the age of 21, could vote. Previously, all women and many poor men had been excluded from voting.

The election was also noted for the dramatic result in Ireland, which showed clear disapproval towards government policy. The Irish Parliamentary Party were almost completely wiped out by the hardline Sinn Féin republicans, who refused to take their seats in Westminster. It was the last election before the majority of Irish counties seceded from the UK to form the Irish Free State; the Irish War of Independence began soon after the election.

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Wikipedia