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Election in Great Britain
1780 British general election
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The
1780 British general election
returned members to serve in the
House of Commons
of the 15th
Parliament of Great Britain
to be summoned after the merger of the
Parliament of England
and the
Parliament of Scotland
in 1707. The election was held during the
American War of Independence
and returned
Lord North
to form a new government with a small and rocky majority. The opposition consisted largely of the
Rockingham Whigs
, the
Whig
faction led by the
Marquess of Rockingham
. North's opponents referred to his supporters as
Tories
, but no Tory party existed at the time and his supporters rejected the label.
Summary of the constituencies
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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
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The general election was held between 6 September 1780 and 18 October 1780.
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
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Seats summary
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Parliamentary seats
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Tory
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50.6%
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Rockinghamite
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49.4%
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See also
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References
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- 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).
- Namier, L. B., & Brooke, J. (1964). The House of Commons, 1754?1790. New York, Published for the History of Parliament Trust by Oxford University Press