1847 United Kingdom general election

The 1847 United Kingdom general election was held from 29 July to 26 August 1847. It saw the Conservatives win the most seats but remain divided between Protectionists and Peelites. This allowed the Whigs, led by Prime Minister Lord John Russell, to retain power.

The general election was held amid the Great Irish famine. The Irish Repeal group won more seats than in the previous general election, while the Chartists gained the only seat they were ever to hold, Nottingham's second seat, held by Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor.

The election also witnessed the election of Britain's first Jewish MP, the Liberal Lionel de Rothschild in the City of London. Members being sworn in were however required to swear the Christian Oath of Allegiance, meaning Rothschild was unable actually to take his seat until the passage of the Jews Relief Act in 1858. The constituency of Sudbury, which elected two members, was disfranchised for this election. This accounts there being two fewer seats in the House of Commons as compared to the previous election, though no redistribution took place.

Results

|votes % = 53.75 |seats % =44.51 |plus/minus = +6.9 |votes % = 42.59 |seats % =49.54 |plus/minus = −8.2 |votes % = 2.93 |seats % =5.49 |plus/minus = +1.0 |votes % = 0.59 |seats % =0.15 |plus/minus = +0.4 |votes % = 0.14 |seats % =0.30 |plus/minus = N/A |}

Voting summary

Seats summary

Regional results

Great Britain

Party	Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change	Total
& Liberal Conservatives	373	180	285		194,223	43.1
	360	125	267		253,376	56.2
	9	0	1	+1	2,848	0.6
742	305	553		450,447	100

England

Party	Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change	Total
& Liberal Conservatives	319	149	239		170,407	42.1
	297	92	222		230,656	57.2
	9	0	1	+1	2,848	0.7
625	241	462		403,911	100

Scotland

Party	Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change	Total
	48	21	33	+2	20,092	81.7	+20.9
& Liberal Conservatives	23	16	20	−2	3,509	18.3	−20.0
71	37	53		23,601	100

Wales

Party	Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change	Total
& Liberal Conservatives	22	15	20		11,114	89.5
	13	12	12		1,394	10.5
35	27	32		12,508	100

Ireland

Party	Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change	Total
	38	24	29	−1	10,294	31.0	−6.1
	11	9	11	964	3.0
	51	18	36		14,128	43.6
	33	11	25		5,935	20.2
	3	0	2		629	2.0
	1	0	0		32	0.2
137	62	103		31,982	100

Universities

Party	Candidates	Unopposed	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change	Total
& Liberal Conservatives	9	0	6		9,193	88.2
	2	0	0		1,234	11.8
11	0	6		10,427	100