United Kingdom general election, 1802
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| 1801 co-option |
| 1802 election |
| 1806 election |
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 1801-1802 Parliament 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.
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[edit] Political Situation
The Tory Prime Minister, Henry Addington, led a war time administration of pro-government Whigs 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.
[edit] Dates of Election
The election took place over a period of almost two months. The time between the first and last contested elections was 5th July to 28th August 1802.
[edit] 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 (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 |
Sources:
(Dates of Elections) Footnote to Table 5.02 British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000).
(Types of constituencies - Great Britain) British Historical Facts 1760-1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980).
(Types of constituencies - Ireland) Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801-1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978).
[edit] See also
- United Kingdom general elections
- MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1802
[edit] Reference
- His Majesty's Opposition 1714-1830, by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press 1964)
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United Kingdom general elections
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