1734 British general election

1734 British general election

22 April – 6 June 1734 (1734-04-22 – 1734-06-06)
All 558 seats in the House of Commons 280 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sir Robert Walpole Viscount Bolingbroke William Pulteney Party Whig Tory Opposition / Patriot Whigs Leader's seat King's Lynn House of Lords Middlesex Seats won 330 145 83 Seat change 85 17 68
Composition of the House of Commons after the election
Prime Minister before election Sir Robert Walpole Whig Prime Minister after election Sir Robert Walpole Whig

The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's increasingly unpopular Whig government lost ground to the Tories and the opposition Whigs, but still had a secure majority in the House of Commons. The Patriot Whigs were joined in opposition by a group of Whig members led by Lord Cobham known as the Cobhamites, or 'Cobham's Cubs'.

Summary of the constituencies

See 1796 British general election for details. The constituencies used were the same throughout the existence of the Parliament of Great Britain.

Dates of election

The general election was held between 22 April 1734 and 6 June 1734.

At this period elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each county or parliamentary borough fixed the precise date (see hustings for details of the conduct of the elections).

Results

Seats summary

Parliamentary seats Whig   59.1% Tory   25.9% Patriot   14.8%

See also

• List of parliaments of Great Britain
• List of MPs elected in the 1734 British general election

References

• British Electoral Facts 1832–1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher (Ashgate Publishing Ltd 2000). (For dates of elections before 1832, see the footnote to Table 5.02).