List of successful votes of no confidence in British governments
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This is a list of successful votes of no confidence in British governments led by
Before the vote in 1979, the most recent vote of no confidence in a British government was in 1924, the longest interval in British parliamentary history.
Defeat of the Walpole ministry (1742)
The 1742 vote of no confidence in the government of Robert Walpole was the first time that a prime minister of Great Britain resigned after a vote of no confidence by the House of Commons. Walpole is regarded as the first British prime minister, although this was not an official position until the early twentieth century. He had been continually in office since April 1721 and relied for the continuance of his government on the confidence of the King as well as that of Parliament.
As early as 1739, Walpole told the
Ayes | 235 |
---|---|
Noes | 236 |
Walpole saw this defeat as the loss of Parliament's confidence in his ministry. As a result, he submitted his resignation as First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer on 11 February and was replaced by Lord Wilmington. Walpole had been created Earl of Orford by King George II on 6 February and left the House of Commons.[3] However, the principle of Cabinet collective responsibility had not been established and the other members of the Walpole ministry remained in office.
Defeat of the North ministry (1782)
The 1782 vote of no confidence in the government of
Ayes | 234 |
---|---|
Noes | 215 |
Defeat of the Pitt ministry (1784)
The 1784 vote of no confidence in the government of William Pitt the Younger occurred in February 1784.
William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister in December 1783. He enjoyed the support of
Ayes | 223 |
---|---|
Noes | 204 |
Pitt, however, refused to follow the precedent to resign. He retained the support of the King and received the support of the House of Lords. Longing to force the government to resign, Fox proposed a motion for an address for the removal of ministers on 1 March which was passed by a vote of 201 to 189, and a further and more strongly worded motion on 8 March which was passed by 191 to 190.[6] Fox thereafter declined to push motions, as his base continued to crumble. Despite these series of defeats in the House of Commons, Pitt resolutely remained in office, watching the Opposition's majority shrink.[8]
Pitt, meanwhile, decided to go to the country and advised the King to dissolve the Parliament, which the King did on 25 March. The ensuing election left Pitt's government a safe majority in the House of Commons. This was the first time that a prime minister avoided resignation by asking for a dissolution of Parliament and created an important precedent for future political practices.
Defeat of the Wellington–Peel ministry (1830)
The 1830 vote of no confidence in the government of the Duke of Wellington occurred in November 1830 when a government motion over a financial question was defeated in the House of Commons.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in January 1828. By late 1830, the support for his government in Parliament was crumbling: the government's policy of Catholic emancipation (via the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829) split the Tory Party, and the political and popular pressure for parliamentary reform grew rapidly against the government's will.
On 15 November 1830, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Ayes | 204 |
---|---|
Noes | 233 |
First defeat of the Peel ministry (1835)
The 1835 vote of no confidence in the government of Robert Peel occurred in April 1835 when the Commons passed a report against the government's will.
Robert Peel became Prime Minister in December 1834. However, his party formed only a
Ayes | 285 |
---|---|
Noes | 258 |
First defeat of the Melbourne ministry (1841)
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, Robert Peel, leader of the Conservative Party, introduced in the House of Commons a motion of no confidence against the Melbourne government.[11] After five days of debate, the motion was carried in the House by a vote of 312 to 311 on 4 June.[12] 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.[13]
Ayes | 312 |
---|---|
Noes | 311 |
Second defeat of the Melbourne ministry (1841)
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.[14] Lord Ripon, a former prime minister, proposed the same amendment in the House of Lords.[15] 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.[13] 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.
Ayes | 269 |
---|---|
Noes | 360 |
Second defeat of the Peel ministry (1846)
The 1846 vote of no confidence in the government of Robert Peel occurred in June 1846 when the House of Commons defeated a government bill.
Robert Peel became
The
Ayes | 219 |
---|---|
Noes | 292 |
Peel's government resigned on 27 June, and
First defeat of the Russell ministry (1851)
The 1851 vote of no confidence in the government of
On 20 February 1851, Whig MP
Ayes | 100 |
---|---|
Noes | 52 |
Russell regarded the defeat as a vote of no confidence and submitted his resignation on 22 February. However, neither the
Second defeat of the Russell ministry (1852)
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,
Ayes | 125 |
---|---|
Noes | 136 |
First defeat of the Derby–Disraeli ministry (1852)
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.[24] 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.[25]
Ayes | 286 |
---|---|
Noes | 305 |
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.
Defeat of the Aberdeen ministry (1855)
The 1855 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Aberdeen occurred in January 1855 when the House of Commons voted in favour of an investigation of the alleged mismanagement during the Crimean War.
George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen became Prime Minister in December 1852 and formed a
On 26 January 1855, John Arthur Roebuck, a radical MP, proposed in the House of Commons to appoint a select committee to inquire into the condition of the British Army and into the government's conduct of war administration.[26] After two days of debate, the motion was carried on 29 January in the House by a vote of 305 to 148.[27]
Ayes | 305 |
---|---|
Noes | 148 |
Lord Aberdeen saw this huge defeat as a sign of no-confidence, and the government resigned on the next day. Lord Palmerston formed government on 6 February.
First defeat of the Palmerston ministry (1857)
On 3 March 1857, the House of Commons expressed its dissatisfaction with the Government's explanation of the Arrow affair in Canton leading to the start of the Second Opium War[28]
Ayes | 263 |
---|---|
Noes | 247 |
Palmerston had parliament dissolved, leading to the 1857 United Kingdom general election which he won with a convincing Whig majority.
Second defeat of the Palmerston ministry (1858)
Following
Ayes | 215 |
---|---|
Noes | 234 |
Second defeat of the Derby–Disraeli ministry (1859)
The 1859 vote of no confidence in the government of Lord Derby occurred in June 1859.
Conservative seats increased in the
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.[29] After three days of debate, the House voted on the amendment on 10 June and passed it by 323 to 310.[30]
Ayes | 323 |
---|---|
Noes | 310 |
As a result, Derby resigned on 11 June, and Lord Palmerston was invited to form the first Liberal government.
Third defeat of the Russell ministry (1866)
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.[31]
Ayes | 315 |
---|---|
Noes | 304 |
First defeat of the Gladstone ministry (1873)
The 1873 vote of no confidence in the government of William Gladstone occurred in March 1873 when a government bill on university education in Ireland was vetoed in the House of Commons.
William 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]
Ayes | 284 |
---|---|
Noes | 287 |
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.
Second defeat of the Gladstone ministry (1885)
The 1885 vote of no confidence in the government of Gladstone occurred on 8 June 1885 when his budget was defeated.[35] Gladstone resigned from office on 9 June 1885.[36]
Ayes | 252 |
---|---|
Noes | 264 |
First defeat of the Salisbury ministry (1886)
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
In November, the necessary legal procedures were complete, and the government dissolved Parliament, precipitating a
Having waited to meet Parliament in the New Year, the Salisbury government brought in a Queen's Speech. On 26 January,
The amendment was carried by 329 votes to 250, and Salisbury subsequently resigned. Gladstone became Prime Minister again on 1 February.
Ayes | 329 |
---|---|
Noes | 250 |
Third defeat of the Gladstone ministry (1886)
The 1886 vote of no confidence in the government of William Gladstone occurred when Parliament rejected the government's Ireland Bill. The Bill was treated as a confidence vote and Gladstone resigned immediately after.[38]
Ayes | 311 |
---|---|
Noes | 341 |
Second defeat of the Salisbury ministry (1892)
Ayes | 350 |
---|---|
Noes | 310 |
Defeat of the Rosebery ministry (1895)
Ayes | 132 |
---|---|
Noes | 125 |
Defeat of the Baldwin ministry (1924)
In January 1924 there was a vote of no confidence in the government of Stanley Baldwin. After the election in December 1923 returned a hung Parliament, the Conservatives remained the largest party but no longer had the overall majority needed to remain in government, allowing Labour and the Liberals to pass the vote.[39] After Baldwin's resignation, Ramsay MacDonald formed a minority government and became the first Labour prime minister.[40]
Ayes | 328 |
---|---|
Noes | 251 |
The motion moved by J. R. Clynes MP was:
"That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty, as followeth:—
Most Gracious Sovereign,
We, Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, beg leave to offer our humble thanks to Your Majesty for the Gracious Speech which Your Majesty has addressed to both Houses of Parliament.
But it is our duty respectfully to submit to your Majesty that Your Majesty's present advisers have not the confidence of this House."[41]
Defeat of the MacDonald ministry (1924)
The 1924 vote of no confidence in the government of Ramsay MacDonald was a vote of censure against the Labour government of Ramsay MacDonald as a consequence of the withdrawal of proceedings by His Majesty's Attorney General Patrick Hastings MP in the Campbell Case. It was one of only three votes of confidence lost by a government in the 20th century.[42]
Ayes | 364 |
---|---|
Noes | 198 |
Although the actual motion of censure moved by Robert Horne MP in the terms "That the conduct of His Majesty's Government in relation to the institution and subsequent withdrawal of criminal proceedings against the editor of the 'Workers' Weekly' is deserving of the censure of this House" was expressly rejected by 198 votes to 359 (a notional Government majority of 161), an alternative motion proposed by John Simon MP "That a Select Committee be appointed to investigate and report upon the circumstances leading up to the withdrawal of the proceedings recently instituted by the Director of Public Prosecutions against Mr. Campbell" was passed by 364 to 198.[43] The government however, had made clear that they regarded both motions as votes of confidence[44] and thus MacDonald requested and obtained a dissolution on the following day.
The Government's defeat on John Simon's motion (by a majority of 166) would prove the high water mark of government defeat in modern parliamentary politics until the first "Meaningful Vote" on the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. That vote was held on 15 January 2019, and the government lost by a majority of 230.[45]
The consequence of the vote was the
Defeat of the Callaghan ministry (1979)
A
This is the most recent occasion on which a British government lost a vote of confidence.
Ayes | 311 |
---|---|
Noes | 310 |
See also
- Confidence motions in the United Kingdom
- 1993 vote of confidence in the Major ministry, an unsuccessful vote
- 2019 vote of confidence in the May ministry, an unsuccessful vote
- 2022 vote of confidence in the Johnson ministry, an unsuccessful vote
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