December 1910 United Kingdom general election facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
December 1910 United Kingdom general election

← Jan 1910 3–19 December 1910 (1910-12-03 – 1910-12-19) 1918 →
← List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, January 1910 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, December 1910 →
All 670 seats in the House of Commons 336 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	81.6%
First party Second party   Leader H. H. Asquith Arthur Balfour Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Leader since 30 April 1908 11 June 1902 Leader's seat East Fife City of London Last election 274 seats, 43.5% 272 seats, 46.8% Seats won 272 271 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 2,157,256 2,270,753 Percentage 44.2% 46.6% Swing 0.7% 0.3%   Third party Fourth party   Leader John Redmond George Barnes Party Irish Parliamentary Party Labour Leader since 6 February 1900 14 February 1910 Leader's seat Waterford City Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown Last election 71 seats, 1.2% 40 seats, 7.0% Seats won 74 42 Seat change 3 2 Popular vote 90,416 309,963 Percentage 1.9% 6.4% Swing 0.7% 0.6%
Colours denote the winning party
Prime Minister before election H. H. Asquith Liberal Prime Minister after election H. H. Asquith Liberal

The December 1910 United Kingdom general election was a big vote held across the UK from December 3 to December 19, 1910. It was a time when people chose who would represent them in the House of Commons, which is a key part of the UK Parliament. This election was important because it was the last one held over several days, and the last one before the start of the First World War.

This election happened because of a disagreement about a plan called the "People's Budget" from 1909. This budget aimed to raise taxes on wealthy people to pay for new social programs that would help everyone. The House of Lords, another part of Parliament, didn't want to approve this budget at first. After another election in January 1910, the Liberal Party and the Irish Parliamentary Party gained enough support to get the budget passed.

However, the government wanted to make sure the House of Lords couldn't block money laws again. So, they called for another election in December 1910. They wanted to get strong public support for a new law, the Parliament Act 1911, which would limit the power of the House of Lords.

The main political parties were the Conservative Party, led by Arthur Balfour, and the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. The results of this election were very similar to the one earlier in the year. The Conservatives won the most votes, but the Liberal Party, with help from the Irish Parliamentary Party, stayed in charge of the government. This was the last time the Liberal Party won the most seats in the House of Commons. It was also the last UK general election where a party other than Labour or the Conservatives won the most seats.

Election Results

This section shows how many votes and seats each political party won in the December 1910 election.

Map showing winning parties in England and Wales

Map showing winning parties across the UK

Voting Summary

This chart shows the percentage of votes each main party received.

Seats Summary

This chart shows the percentage of seats each main party won in Parliament.

See also

• List of MPs elected in the December 1910 United Kingdom general election
• Parliamentary franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918
• December 1910 United Kingdom general election in Ireland