List of votes of no confidence in British governments

The 1835 vote of no confidence in the government of Sir Robert Peel occurred in April 1835 when the Commons passed a report against the government's will.

Sir Robert Peel became Prime Minister in December 1834. However, his party formed only a minority in the House of Commons. The following general election did not change this situation, which left the Conservative Party over 100 seats shorter than the Whigs in the House of Commons. Peel's government was unable to implement most of its policies. On 7 April, Ralph Bernal, a Whig MP, brought up a Report of the Committee of the House on the Church of Ireland. The Report was passed in the House of Commons against the government's will by a vote of 285 to 258.[10] Peel resigned on the next day and King William IV invited Whig leader Lord Melbourne to become Prime Minister and form a government.

The 1846 vote of no confidence in the government of Sir Robert Peel occurred in June 1846 when the House of Commons defeated a government bill.

Sir Robert Peel became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for a second time in August 1841. In order to relieve the suffering caused by the Great Famine in Ireland, he decided in 1845 to repeal the Corn Laws which were passed in 1815 to protect British agricultural production by restrictions on grain imports. This policy caused a split in the Conservative Party between the free-traders led by Peel and the protectionists led by Lord Derby, Lord George Bentinck and Benjamin Disraeli. On 15 May 1846, Peel's Bill of Repeal (officially titled Corn Importation Bill) was passed in the House of Commons with the support of the Whigs and the Radicals.[11]

The Protection of Life (Ireland) Bill (or "Coercion Bill") was introduced by the government in March 1846 to deal with the turbulences on the island, and was regarded by Peel's opponents as an opportunity to oust him. On 25 June, the same day when the Bill of Repeal was passed in the House of Lords,[12] the Coercion Bill was defeated in the House of Commons on its second reading by a combination of Conservative protectionists, Whigs and Radicals. The vote was 219 to 292.[13]

Peel's government resigned on 27 June, and Lord John Russell formed a Whig government. Lord Stanley became the Leader of the Conservative Party. The Conservative free-traders, including Lord Aberdeen and William Ewart Gladstone, followed Peel to form a distinct faction called the "Peelites". They merged with the Whigs, the Radicals and the Independent Irish Party in 1859 to form the Liberal Party.

The first vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Melbourne occurred in June 1841.

William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne became Prime Minister in April 1835. On 27 May 1841, Sir Robert Peel, leader of the Conservative Party, introduced in the House of Commons a motion of no confidence against the Melbourne government.[14] After five days of debate, the motion was carried in the House by a vote of 312 to 311 on 4 June.[15] Melbourne then asked Queen Victoria to dissolve Parliament, which she did on 23 June. The Whig Party lost 70-odd seats in the following general election, and the government was defeated in a further vote of no confidence on 27 August.[16]

The second vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Melbourne occurred in August 1841.

Queen Victoria had opened the new Parliament on 24 August. On the same day, Conservative MP John Stuart-Wortley proposed in the House of Commons an amendment to the House's address in answer to the Queen's Speech, which claimed that the government no longer possessed the confidence of Parliament.[17] Lord Ripon, a former Prime Minister, proposed the same amendment in the House of Lords.[18] After four days of debate, the House of Commons voted on 27 August on the question whether the proposed amendment should be left out of the address. The question was vetoed by a vote of 269 to 360 and Wortley's amendment was added to the address.[16] This was the second time for a Melbourne government to lose a vote of confidence in the same year. He resigned on 30 August, and the Queen invited Conservative leader Robert Peel to become Prime Minister and form a government.

The 1851 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord John Russell occurred in February 1851 when a motion of enfranchisement was carried in the House of Commons against the government's will.[19] Lord John Russell became Prime Minister in June 1846. During Russell's premiership, the Whig Party only formed a minority in the House of Commons. The government relied on the implicit support of the Peelites led by Sir Robert Peel, and its support in Parliament was weak.

On 20 February 1851, Whig MP Peter King brought a motion in the House of Commons to "make the franchise in counties in England and Wales the same as that in boroughs, by giving the right of voting to all occupiers of tenements of the annual value of £10." This would make the county franchise the same as the borough franchise set in Reform Act of 1832. The government's view, however, was against further expansion of the electorate. Trying to avoid a defeat, Russell promised in the debate to bring in official measures of reform, but the Bill was passed anyway on its first reading by a vote of 100 to 52 (but defeated on the second reading).[20]

Russell regarded the defeat as a vote of no confidence and submitted his resignation on 22 February. However, neither the Conservatives nor the Peelites was able to form a government, and the ministry resumed office on 3 March.[21] As a result, Russell committed himself to further Parliamentary reforms and brought in several Reform Bills from 1852 to 1866.[22] These efforts would finally lead to the passage of Reform Act of 1867.

The 1852 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord John Russell occurred in February 1852 when the government was defeated on a bill in the House of Commons.

As the Whig Party only formed a minority in the House of Commons, the support for the government was weak. Russell's government had been defeated on a vote of no confidence in the previous year but resumed power shortly afterwards.

In December 1851, Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston clashed with Russell and the Prince Consort over foreign policies. Forced to resign, Palmerston returned to the backbenches but was determined to bring down the Russell government. On 20 February 1852, Russell brought a Bill in the House of Commons to amend the Local Militia. Palmerston, however, spoke against the phrase "Local Militia" and proposed that the word "local" should be left out of the Bill's title. A debate between the government and its opponents followed over such trivial matters. The House then voted on the question that "the word 'local' stand part of the question", and the government was defeated by an avote of 125 to 136.[23] Russell resigned on the next day and Queen Victoria asked Conservative leader Lord Derby to form a minority government.

The 1866 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Russell occurred when the government of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell was defeated on Parliamentary reform proposals on 18 June 1866.[24]

The 1852 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Derby occurred in December 1852 when the government's budget was vetoed in the House of Commons.

Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby became Prime Minister in February 1852. During his premiership, the Conservative Party only formed a minority in the House of Commons due to the split of the Peelites. The general election in July did not strengthen the position of the government whose support in the House was weak.

On 3 December 1852, Chancellor of the Exchequer Benjamin Disraeli proposed the budget for the financial year of 1853–54, in which he increased the house tax.[25] It was fiercely attacked by the Whigs and the Peelites. On 16 December 1852, after four days of debates, the House voted on the Budget in committee, and the Budget was vetoed by a vote of 286 to 305.[26]

As a result, the government resigned on the next day. Under the leadership of Lord Aberdeen, the Whigs and the Peelites formed a coalition and the first majority government since 1846.

The 1859 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Derby occurred in June 1859.

Conservative seats increased in the 1859 general election, but the Opposition still held a majority in the House. On 6 June, leading Whigs, Peelites, Radicals and members of the Independent Irish Party met and agreed to officially establish the modern Liberal Party.

On 7 June, the new Parliament was opened by Queen Victoria. On the same day, in the debate in the House of Commons on the House's address in answer to the Queen's Speech, Whig MP Robert Culling Hanbury proposed an amendment to the address which claimed that the government no longer possessed the confidence of the Parliament.[27] After three days of debate, the House voted on the amendment on 10 June and passed it by 323 to 310.[28]

As a result, Derby resigned on 11 June, and Lord Palmerston was invited to form the first Liberal government.

The 1873 vote of no confidence in the government of William Ewart Gladstone occurred in March 1873 when a government bill on university education in Ireland was vetoed in the House of Commons.

William Ewart Gladstone became Prime Minister in December 1868. His premiership was marked by series of political and social reforms. In February 1873, the government brought in University Education (Ireland) Bill, which proposed to make the Catholic University of Ireland, the Presbyterian Magee College and the colleges of the secular Queen's University of Ireland parts of the University of Dublin, and which abolished all religious requirements in these colleges as well as in the Trinity College.[32]

On 3 March, Gladstone proposed in the House of Commons for the second reading of the Bill.[33] After 4 days of debate, the House voted on the Bill on 11 March, and the government was defeated by a vote of 284 to 287.[34]

Gladstone saw this close loss as a vote of no-confidence and submitted his resignation on 13 March. However, the Liberal Party held the majority in the House, and Benjamin Disraeli refused to form a minority Conservative government. Gladstone's cabinet therefore resumed on 19 March.

The 1885 vote of no confidence in the government of William Ewart Gladstone occurred on 8 June 1885 when Gladstone's budget was defeated.[35] Gladstone resigned from office on 9 June 1885.[36]

The 1886 vote of no confidence in the government of William Ewart Gladstone occurred when Parliament rejected the government's Ireland Bill. The Bill was treated as a confidence vote and Gladstone resigned immediately after.[37]

The 1886 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Salisbury was a vote of no confidence in the Conservative government led by Salisbury, which was passed on the night of 26 January 1886.

The government had taken over in June 1885 after the Liberal government led by William Ewart Gladstone had resigned following a defeat on the budget. The government lacked a majority, but was not able to immediately dissolve as the changes to the franchise and constituency boundaries in the Reform Act had not yet become law.

In November, the necessary legal procedures were complete, and the government dissolved Parliament, precipitating a general election. Although the Conservatives were beaten, no party had a majority. The Conservatives had courted the Irish vote in 1885, and it was not plain the Irish Nationalists would back the Liberals. Salisbury did not resign and waited to meet Parliament. However, in the meantime the Hawarden Kite made it clear Gladstone would back Irish Home Rule.

Having waited to meet Parliament in the New Year, the Salisbury government brought in a Queen's Speech. On 26 January, Jesse Collings, Liberal MP for Ipswich moved an amendment "expressing regret that no measures were announced [in the Queen's Speech] for the present relief of those suffering under economic pressures, especially for affording facilities to the agricultural labourers and others in the rural districts to obtain allotments and small holdings on equitable terms as to rent and security of tenure."[38] This was known as the "Three Acres and a Cow" amendment.

The amendment was carried by 329 votes to 250, and Salisbury subsequently resigned. Gladstone became Prime Minister again on 1 February.

The consequence of the vote was the third general election in three years. Dominated by the publication of the controversial Zinoviev letter shortly before polling day and scares over Labour connections with Bolshevik Russia, the Conservatives were returned to power with a majority of 208. They remained in office for the duration of the next Parliament. However, this spectacular success was predominantly at the expense of the Liberals who lost 118 seats rather than Labour. The latter lost only 40 seats and gained a million new votes compared to 1923. Thus the long-term consequence of the vote was the permanent supersession of the Liberals by Labour as the Official Opposition to Baldwin's Conservatives.