December 1910 General Election
3–19 December 1910 · The Mass Franchise · 670 seats, 336 for a majority
A second election in one year to force the Parliament Act, with the King's secret pledge to create peers if the Lords resisted. The near-identical result gave Asquith his mandate; the Lords' veto was broken in 1911.
Prime Minister before
H. H. Asquith
Liberal
Prime Minister (continued)
H. H. Asquith
Liberal
Government formed
Liberal
Turnout
81.6%
electorate 7,709,981
The result
| Share of Commons | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | H. H. Asquith | 272 | 2,157,256 | 44.2% | +0.7 | |
| Conservative and Liberal Unionist | Arthur Balfour | 271 | 2,270,753 | 46.6% | -0.3 | |
| Irish Parliamentary | John Redmond | 74 | 90,416 | 1.9% | +0.7 | |
| Labour | George Barnes | 42 | 309,963 | 6.4% | -0.6 |
Before 1918, party labels were looser and many seats went uncontested, so vote totals and shares understate real support. Seat counts are the reliable measure.