1727 British general election

1727 British general election

14 August – 17 October 1727(1727-08-14–1727-10-17)
All558 seatsin theHouse of Commons 280 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party Leader Sir Robert Walpole Viscount Bolingbroke William Pulteney Party Whig Tory Opposition / Patriot Whigs Leader's seat King's Lynn House of Lords Hedon Seats won 415 128 15 Seat change 26 41 15
Prime Ministerbefore election Sir Robert Walpole Whig Prime Minister after election Sir Robert Walpole Whig

The1727 British general electionreturned members to serve in theHouse of Commonsof the 7thParliament of Great Britainto be summoned, after the merger of theParliament of Englandand theParliament of Scotlandin 1707. The election was triggered by the death ofKing George I;at the time, it was the convention to hold new elections following the succession of a new monarch. The Tories, led in the House of Commons byWilliam Wyndham,and under the direction ofBolingbroke,who had returned to the country in 1723 after being pardoned for his role in theJacobite rising of 1715,lost further ground to the Whigs, rendering them ineffectual and largely irrelevant to practical politics. A group known as thePatriot Whigs,led byWilliam Pulteney,who were disenchanted with Walpole's government and believed he was betraying Whig principles, had been formed prior to the election. Bolingbroke and Pulteney had not expected the next election to occur until 1729, and were consequently caught unprepared and failed to make any gains against the government party.

Summary of the constituencies

See1796 British general electionfor details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.

Dates of election

The general election was held between 14 August 1727 and 17 October 1727.

At this period, elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each county orparliamentary boroughfixed the precise date (seehustingsfor details of the conduct of the elections).

Results

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Whig   74.4% Tory   22.9% Patriot   2.7%

See also

• List of parliaments of Great Britain

References

• British Electoral Facts 1832–1999,compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). (For dates of elections before 1832, see the footnote to Table 5.02).