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1900 United Kingdom general election facts for kids

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1900 United Kingdom general election

← 1895 26 September – 24 October 1900 (1900-09-26 – 1900-10-24) 1906 →
← List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1895
List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900 →

All 670 seats in the House of Commons
336 seats needed for a majority
Turnout 75.1%
  First party Second party
  Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg Sir-Henry-Campbell-Bannerman.jpg
Leader Marquess of Salisbury Henry Campbell-Bannerman
Party Conservative and Liberal Unionist Liberal
Leader since April 1881 December 1898
Leader's seat House of Lords Stirling Burghs
Last election 411 seats, 49.3% 177 seats, 45.6%
Seats won 402 183
Seat change Decrease9 Increase6
Popular vote 1,637,683 1,469,500
Percentage 50.2% 45.1%
Swing Increase0.9% Decrease0.5%

  Third party Fourth party
  John Redmond, circa 1909.jpg Keir Hardie by George Charles Beresford (1905).jpg
Leader John Redmond Keir Hardie
Party Irish Parliamentary Party Labour Representation Committee
Leader since 6 February 1900 28 February 1900
Leader's seat Waterford City Merthyr Tydfil
Last election 82 seats, 3.9% Did not contest
Seats won 76 2
Seat change Decrease6 Increase2
Popular vote 57,576 41,900
Percentage 1.8% 1.3%
Swing Decrease2.1% New party

United Kingdom general election 1900.svg
Colours denote the winning party

Prime Minister before election

Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative

Prime Minister after
election

Marquess of Salisbury
Conservative

The 1900 United Kingdom general election was held between 26 September and 24 October 1900, following the dissolution of Parliament on 25 September. Also referred to as the Khaki Election (the first of several elections to bear this sobriquet), it was held at a time when it was widely believed that the Second Boer War had effectively been won (though in fact it was to continue for another two years).

The Conservative Party, led by Lord Salisbury with their Liberal Unionist allies, secured a large majority of 134 seats, despite securing only 5.6% more votes than Henry Campbell-Bannerman's Liberals. This was largely owing to the Conservatives winning 163 seats that were uncontested by others. The Labour Representation Committee, later to become the Labour Party, participated in a general election for the first time. However, it had only been in existence for a few months; as a result, Keir Hardie and Richard Bell were the only LRC Members of Parliament elected in 1900.

This was the first occasion when Winston Churchill was elected to the House of Commons. He had stood in the same seat, Oldham, at a by-election held the previous year, but had lost. It was also the final general election of the Victorian era.


Results

1900 UK parliament.svg
UK General Election 1900
Candidates Votes
Party Leader Stood Elected Gained Unseated Net  % of total  % No. Net %
  Conservative and Liberal Unionist Marquess of Salisbury 569 402 32 41 −9 60.1 50.2 1,637,683 +1.0
  Liberal Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 402 183 38 32 +6 27.4 45.1 1,469,500 −0.5
  Irish Parliamentary John Redmond 83 76 2 8 −6 11.3 1.8 57,576 −0.8
  Labour Repr. Cmte. Keir Hardie 15 2 2 0 +2 0.3 1.3 41,900 N/A
  Independent Nationalist N/A 18 6 6 0 +6 0.9 0.7 23,706
  Ind. Conservative N/A 7 0 0 0 0 0 0.4 13,713
  Independent Liberal N/A 3 1 1 0 +1 0.1 0.2 6,423 +0.1
  Independent N/A 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.2 4,800 +0.2
  Scottish Workers Robert Allan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 3,107 N/A
  Ind. Liberal Unionist N/A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 1,855 N/A
  Independent Labour N/A 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 433 +0.0

Voting summary

Popular vote
Conservative and Liberal Unionist
  
50.22%
Liberal
  
45.07%
Irish Parliamentary
  
1.77%
Labour
  
1.29%
Others
  
1.66%

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats
Conservative and Liberal Unionist
  
60.00%
Liberal
  
27.31%
Irish Parliamentary
  
11.34%
Labour
  
0.30%
Others
  
1.04%

See also

  • List of MPs elected in the 1900 United Kingdom general election
  • Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918
  • 1900 United Kingdom general election in Ireland
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