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The 1852 UK general election was very close, Lord John Russell's Whigs again winning the popular vote, but once again Conservative candidates won a very slight majority. Again the split between Protectionist Tories, led by the Earl of Derby and the Peelites made the formation of a majority government very difficult. Lord Derby's minority Protectionist government soon collapsed, bringing about a Peelite-Whig coalition government under Lord Aberdeen, one of the leading Peelites, which collapsed during the Crimean War.
[edit] Results
| UK General Election 1852
|
| Party
| Seats
| Gains
| Losses
| Net Gain/Loss
| Seats %
| Votes %
| Votes
| +/-
|
|
| Whig
| 324
|
|
| + 32
|
| 57.9
| 430,882
| + 4.1
|
|
| Conservative
| 330
|
|
| + 5
|
| 41.9
| 311,481
| - 0.5
|
|
| Chartist
| 0
| 0
| 1
| - 1
|
| 0.2
| 1,541
| + 0.1
|
Note that while the Conservatives had, in theory, a slim majority over the Whigs, the party was divided between protectionist and Peelite wings, of which the former numbered about 290 and the latter 35-40. The Whigs themselves represented a coalition of Whigs, Liberals, Radicals, and Irish nationalists. The above numbers are therefore highly misleading.
[edit] References
