British general election, 1727

Great Britain general election, 1727

14 August to 17 October
All 558 seats of the House of Commons 280 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Robert Walpole Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke William Pulteney Party Whig Tory Opposition Whig Leader's seat King's Lynn - Hedon Seats won 415 128 15 Seat change 26 41 15 Popular vote - - - Percentage - - -
Prime Minister of Great Britain before election Robert Walpole Whig Prime Minister of Great Britain Robert Walpole Whig

The British general election, 1727, returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was triggered by the death of King 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 by William Wyndham and under the direction of Bolingbroke, who had returned to the country in 1723 after being pardoned for his role in the Jacobite rising of 1715, lost further ground to the Whigs, rendering them ineffectual and largely irrelevant to practical politics. A group known as the Patriot Whigs led by William 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

See British general election, 1796 for 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 or parliamentary borough fixed the precise date (see hustings for details of the conduct of the elections).

See also

• List of Parliaments of Great Britain
• MPs elected in the British general election, 1727

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).