The 1841 United Kingdom general election was held between 29 June and 22 July 1841. Following increasing government defeats, the Conservatives under Sir Robert Peel won a decisive victory against the governing Whigs.

The Conservatives campaigned mainly on an 11-point programme modified from their previous electoral effort and designed by Peel, whilst the Whigs emphasised reforming the import duties on corn, replacing the existing sliding scale with a uniform rate. The Whig position lost them support amongst protectionists, and the Whigs saw heavy losses in constituencies like the West Riding, where aristocratic Whig families who held a strong tradition of unbroken representation in Parliament were rejected by the electorate.

O'Connell, who had been governing with the Whigs through a compact, felt the government's unpopularity rub off on him. His own party was shattered in the election. Barely a dozen Repealers retained their seats, and O'Connell himself lost in Dublin while his son was defeated in Carlow. The Chartists picked up only a few votes.

Results

Voting summary

Seats summary

Regional results Great Britain Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change 439 185 326 +42 286,650 52.7 +4.5 333 83 229 −42 256,774 47.2 −4.6 8 0 0 692 0.1 Total 780 268 555 544,116 100

England Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change 374 147 277 272,755 53.1 277 62 187 236,813 46.8 4 0 0 307 0.1 Total 655 209 464 509,875 100

Scotland Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change 40 13 31 -2 16,356 60.8 35 16 22 +2 9,793 38.3 3 0 0 385 0.9 Total 78 29 53 26,534 100

Wales Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change 24 16 21 4,102 53.2 16 8 11 3,605 46.8 1 0 0 0 0.0 Total 41 24 32 7,707 100

Ireland Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change 55 30 42 17,128 35.1 59 27 41 19,664 40.1 22 12 20 12,537 24.8 Total 136 69 103 49,329 100

Universities Party Candidates Unopposed Seats Seats change Votes % % change 6 6 6 Uncontested Uncontested Total 6 6 6 Uncontested Uncontested

Notable Whig MPs who lost their seats Viscount Morpeth, Chief Secretary for Ireland Sir George Strickland, Bt Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet

Notes

References

Further reading

External links Spartacus: Political Parties and Election Results