United Kingdom general election, 1885 (Ireland)
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
101 of the 670 seats to the House of Commons |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Turnout | 75.0% (In contested seats) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
300px Results of the 1885 election in Ireland.
|
The 1885 general election in Ireland was the first election following the Representation of the People Act 1884 and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, which redrew the Irish electoral landscape.
The election saw the Irish Parliamentary Party secure their place as the dominant party in Irish politics, winning the vast majority of available seats. In comparison, the Liberals were wiped out in Ireland, whilst the Conservatives were reduced to 16 seats.
Changes to the Irish Electorate
The Irish electorate in 1885 was radically different to that in 1880. The Representation of the People Act 1884 equalized the county and borough franchises and made all householders and lodgers in the counties eligible to vote,[1] thereby bringing Irish electoral law into line with that in Great Britain. The result of this reform was massive, and saw the Irish electorate more than triple, increasing from 229,204 in 1880 to 737,965 in 1885.[2] In spite of this, however, the Irish electorate was still comparatively smaller than the electorates of the other nations of the United Kingdom; whilst 2 in 3 adults males had the vote in England and Wales, or 3 in 5 in Scotland, in Ireland only 1 in 2 adult males could vote.[3]
Results
Not included in the totals are the two Dublin University seats, which were uncontested and were retained by the Conservatives.
Party | Leader | Seats | Votes | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# of Seats | % of Seats | Seat Change | # of Votes | % of Votes | Vote Change | |||
Irish Parliamentary | Charles Stewart Parnell | 85 | 87.1 | ![]() |
307,119 | 67.8 | ![]() |
|
Irish Conservative | Lord Salisbury | 16 | 15.8 | ![]() |
111,503 | 24.8 | ![]() |
|
Liberal | William Ewart Gladstone | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
30,022 | 6.8 | ![]() |
|
Totals | 101 | 100 | 451,466 | 100 | ||||
Sources: Rallings & Thrasher[4] |
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Cite error: Invalid <references>
tag; parameter "group" is allowed only.
<references />
, or <references group="..." />
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>