1802 United Kingdom general election

Political situation

Prime Minister Henry Addington led a war-time administration of pro-government Whigs and Tories, collectively referred to as the "Addingtonians", 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, before becoming increasingly opposed over the course of the Parliamentary term.

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. The Treaty was supported by a strong majority of the Commons, only meeting strong opposition from the small group of 'New Opposition' or Grenvillite parliamentarians, formed around Lord Grenville and led in the Commons by William Windham, both former cabinet ministers under Pitt.

In the election the combination of the followers of Addington and Pitt comfortably defeated both the 'Old' Opposition Foxites under Charles James Fox and the 'New' Opposition of Lord Grenville. Despite his reluctance to foster a personal faction and the presence of some of his followers in both support and opposition to Addington, Pitt retained an unclear personal following of around fifty-seven MPs.

The election was a decidedly quiet affair owing to the general popularity of Addington's diplomatic and peace policies. Two notable results occurred in the urban constituencies of Middlesex and Norwich. At Middlesex the Radical Francis Burdett defeated William Mainwaring, a supporter of Addington. After an inquiry Burdett was unseated and defeated narrowly at a by-election by Mainwaring's son, George Boulton Mainwaring. At Norwich Windham and fellow conservative incumbent John Frere were defeated by Radical William Smith and Foxite Robert Fellowes in a campaign where Windham's opposition to peace had weakened his popularity. Windham was promptly returned for St Mawes, a pocket borough of Lord Grenville's brother, Lord Buckingham.

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 officer 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.

Results

Seats summary

Summary of the constituencies

[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

Notes

References

• British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). Source: Dates of Elections – Footnote to Table 5.02
• British Historical Facts 1760–1830, by Chris Cook and John Stevenson (The Macmillan Press 1980). Source: Types of constituencies – Great Britain
• His Majesty's Opposition 1714–1830, by Archibald S. Foord (Oxford University Press 1964)
• Parliamentary Election Results in Ireland 1801–1922, edited by B.M. Walker (Royal Irish Academy 1978). Source: Types of constituencies – Ireland

References

1. "Church and State in Modern Britain 1700–1850".
2. Fisher, David R.. "The 'New Opposition', 1801-4". [[History of Parliament Trust]].
3. [[Michael Duffy (historian). Duffy, Michael]], ''The Younger Pitt'' (Harlow, 2000), pp. 104-5.
4. "1802, The 2nd Parliament of the United Kingdom". [[History of Parliament Trust]].