| Election Name | United Kingdom general election, 1906 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Type | parliamentary |
Ongoing | no |
Previous Election | United Kingdom general election, 1900 |
Previous Year | 1900 |
Previous Mps | MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900 |
Next Election | United Kingdom general election, January 1910 |
Next Year | 1910 |
Next Mps | MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, January 1910 |
Seats For Election | All 670 seats in the House of Commons |
Elected Mps | Members elected |
Election Date | 12 January - 8 February 1906 |
Leader1 | Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
Leader Since1 | December 1898 |
Party1 | Liberal Party (UK) |
Leaders Seat1 | Stirling Burghs |
Last Election1 | 183 seats, 44.7% |
Seats1 | 397 |
Seat Change1 | (+) 216 |
Popular Vote1 | 2,751,057 |
Percentage1 | 48.9% |
Swing1 | (+) 3.9% |
Leader2 | Arthur Balfour |
Leader Since2 | 11 June 1902 |
Party2 | Conservative and Liberal Unionist |
Leaders Seat2 | Manchester East (defeated) |
Last Election2 | 402 seats, 50.3% |
Seats2 | 156 |
Seat Change2 | (-) 246 |
Popular Vote2 | 2,422,071 |
Percentage2 | 43.4% |
Swing2 | (-) 6.8% |
Leader4 | Keir Hardie |
Leader Since4 | 28 February 1900 |
Party4 | Labour Party (UK) |
Leaders Seat4 | Merthyr Tydfil |
Last Election4 | 2 seats, 1.8% |
Seats4 | 29 |
Seat Change4 | (+) 27 |
Popular Vote4 | 321,663 |
Percentage4 | 4.8% |
Swing4 | (+) 3.6% |
Leader5 | John Redmond |
Leader Since5 | 6 February 1900 |
Party5 | Irish Parliamentary Party |
Leaders Seat5 | Waterford City |
Last Election5 | 77 seats, 1.6% |
Seats5 | 82 |
Seat Change5 | (+) 5 |
Popular Vote5 | 35,031 |
Percentage5 | 0.6% |
Swing5 | (-) 1.2% |
Map Image | 1906 UK Election Results.png |
Map Size | 250px |
Map Caption | Colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
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Title | PM |
Posttitle | Subsequent PM |
Before Election | Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
Before Party | Liberal Party (UK) |
After Election | Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
After Party | Liberal Party (UK) |
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The United Kingdom general election of 1906 was held from 12 January to 8 February 1906.
The Liberals, led by sitting minority Prime Minister Henry Campbell-Bannerman, won a large majority in the election. The Conservatives under Arthur Balfour lost more than half their seats, while the Labour Representation Committee was far more successful than in 1900 and after the election would be reformed as "The Labour Party" with 29 MPs and Keir Hardie as leader. The Irish Parliamentary Party, led by John Redmond, achieved its seats with a relatively low number of votes, as 73 candidates stood unopposed.
This election was a landslide defeat for the Conservative Party and their Liberal Unionist allies, with the primary reason given by historians as the party's weakness after its split over the issue of free trade (Joseph Chamberlain had resigned from government in September 1903 in order to campaign for Tariff Reform, which would allow 'preferential tariffs'). Many working class people saw this as a threat to the price of food, hence the debate was nicknamed 'Big Loaf, Little Loaf'. The Liberals' landslide victory of 125 seats over all other parties led to the passing of social legislation known as the Liberal reforms. This was the last election in which the Liberals won an absolute majority in the House of Commons, and also the last election in which the Liberals won an absolute majority share of the popular vote.
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