United Kingdom general election, 1802
Encyclopedia
The United Kingdom general election, 1802 was the election to the 2nd Parliament of the United Kingdom
. It was the first to be held after the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
. The First Parliament of the United Kingdom was composed of members of the former Parliaments of the Kingdom of Great Britain
and the Kingdom of Ireland
.
The Parliament of Great Britain
held its last general election in 1796. The final election for the Parliament of Ireland
was held in 1797.
The first united Parliament was dissolved on 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.
s and Tories in office during part of the Napoleonic Wars
.
The previous Prime Minister, William Pitt the younger
, had been out of office since 1801. King George III
had forced Pitt to resign by refusing to agree to Catholic emancipation
(allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament) following the Union. His faction in Parliament was generally supportive of the Addington Ministry, but was semi-detached from it.
On 25 March 1802 the Treaty of Amiens
brought 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 of Charles James Fox
.
fixed 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.
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
Table 2: Number of seats per constituency, by type and country
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. It was the first to be held after the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
. The First Parliament of the United Kingdom was composed of members of the former Parliaments of the Kingdom of Great Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and the Kingdom of Ireland
Kingdom of Ireland
The Kingdom of Ireland refers to the country of Ireland in the period between the proclamation of Henry VIII as King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 and the Act of Union in 1800. It replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1171...
.
The Parliament of Great Britain
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland...
held its last general election in 1796. The final election for the Parliament of Ireland
Parliament of Ireland
The Parliament of Ireland was a legislature that existed in Dublin from 1297 until 1800. In its early mediaeval period during the Lordship of Ireland it consisted of either two or three chambers: the House of Commons, elected by a very restricted suffrage, the House of Lords in which the lords...
was held in 1797.
The first united Parliament was dissolved on 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
The Tory Prime Minister, Henry Addington, led a war time administration of pro-government WhigBritish Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
s and Tories in office during part of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
.
The previous Prime Minister, William Pitt the younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
, had been out of office since 1801. King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
had forced Pitt to resign by refusing to agree to Catholic emancipation
Catholic Emancipation
Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in Great Britain and Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century which involved reducing and removing many of the restrictions on Roman Catholics which had been introduced by the Act of Uniformity, the Test Acts and the penal laws...
(allowing Catholics to sit in Parliament) following the Union. His faction in Parliament was generally supportive of the Addington Ministry, but was semi-detached from it.
On 25 March 1802 the Treaty of Amiens
Treaty of Amiens
The Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended hostilities between the French Republic and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 , by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
brought 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 of Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
.
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 local returning officerReturning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.-Australia:In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a State Electoral Commission who heads the local divisional office...
fixed 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
Key to categories in the following tables: BC - Borough/Burgh constituencies, CC - County constituencies, UC - University constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Borough/Burgh Members of Parliament, CMP - County Members of Parliament, UMP - University Members of Parliament.Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire (historic)
Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....
(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 |
See also
- United Kingdom general electionsUnited Kingdom general electionsThis is a list of United Kingdom general elections since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliament of Ireland, before being co-opted to serve in the first Parliament of the United Kingdom, so that Parliament...
- Members of the 2nd UK Parliament from IrelandMembers of the 2nd UK Parliament from IrelandThis is a list of the MPs for Irish constituencies, who were elected at the United Kingdom general election, 1802, to serve as Members of the 2nd UK Parliament from Ireland, or who were elected at subsequent by-elections...
- Gatton by-election, 1803Gatton by-election, 1803The Gatton by-election, 1803 was a by-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom that took place on 24 January 1803.The parliamentary borough of Gatton was a notorious "rotten" or pocket borough "in the pocket" of the Lord of the Manor of Gatton, who at that time was Sir Mark Wood. It...