1802 United Kingdom general election

1802 United Kingdom general election
←outgoing members elected members→
All658 seatsin theHouse of Commons; 330 seats needed for a majority
	Composition of theHouse of Commonsafter the election
Prime Ministerbefore election; Henry Addington; Addingtonian	Prime Minister after election; Henry Addington; Addingtonian

The1802 United Kingdom general electionwas the first general election after theActs of Union 1800,held from 5 July 1802 to 28 August 1802, to elect members of theHouse of Commons,thelower houseof the newParliament of the United Kingdom.Thefirst Parliamenthad been composed of members of the former Parliaments of theKingdom of Great Britainand theKingdom of Ireland.

TheParliament of Great Britainheld its lastgeneral election in 1796.The final election for theParliament of Irelandwas held in1797.

The first united Parliament wasdissolvedon 29 June 1802. The new Parliament was summoned to meet on 31 August 1802, for a maximum seven-year term from that date. (The maximum term could be and normally was curtailed, by the monarch dissolving the Parliament, before its term expired.)

Political situation

ToryPrime MinisterHenry Addingtonled a war-time administration of pro-governmentWhigsand Tories, collectively referred to as the "Addingtonians",^[1]in office during part of theNapoleonic Wars.

The previous Prime Minister,William Pitt the Younger,had been out of office since 1801.King George IIIhad forced Pitt to resign by refusing to agree toCatholic emancipation(allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament) following the Union. His faction in Parliament was generally supportive of theAddington ministry,but was semi-detached from it.

On 25 March 1802 theTreaty of Amiensbrought about peace with France, with which Great Britain had been at war since 1792. The international situation remained uneasy and a renewal of war was still possible.

In the election the combination of the followers of Addington and Pitt comfortably defeated the Opposition Whigs ofCharles James Fox.

Dates of election

At this period there was not one election day. After receiving a writ (a royal command) for the election to be held, the localreturning officerfixed the election timetable for the particular constituency or constituencies he was concerned with. Polling in seats with contested elections could continue for many days.

The election took place over a period of almost two months. The time between the first and last contested elections was 5 July to 28 August 1802.

Summary of the constituencies

Monmouthshire(1 County constituency with 2 MPs and one single member Borough constituency) is included in Wales in these tables. Sources for this period may include the county in England.

Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and country

Country	BC	CC	UC	Total C	BMP	CMP	UMP	Total MPs
England	202	39	2	243	404	78	4	486
Wales	13	13	0	26	13	14	0	27
Scotland	15	30	0	45	15	30	0	45
Ireland	33	32	1	66	35	64	1	100
Total	263	114	3	380	467	176	5	658

Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country

Country	BCx1	BCx2	BCx4	CCx1	CCx2	UCx1	UCx2	Total C
England	4	196	2	0	39	0	2	243
Wales	13	0	0	12	1	0	0	26
Scotland	15	0	0	30	0	0	0	45
Ireland	31	2	0	0	32	1	0	66
Total	63	198	2	42	72	1	2	380

Notes

^Church and State in Modern Britain 1700–1850,p. 138, atGoogle Books

References

British Electoral Facts 1832–1999,compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000).Source: Dates of Elections – Footnote to Table 5.02
British Historical Facts 1760–1830,by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980).Source: Types of constituencies – Great Britain
His Majesty's Opposition 1714–1830,by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press 1964)
Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922,edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978).Source: Types of constituencies – Ireland

[1] Church and State in Modern Britain 1700–1850,p. 138, atGoogle Books

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