January 1910 United Kingdom general election
The January 1910 United Kingdom general election was held from 15 January to 10 February 1910. The government called the election in the midst of a constitutional crisis caused by the rejection of the People's Budget by the Conservative-dominated House of Lords, in order to get a mandate to pass the budget.
"February 1910 general election" redirects here. For the Finnish election, see 1910 Finnish parliamentary election.
All 670 seats in the House of Commons
336 seats needed for a majority
86.8%
The general election resulted in a hung parliament, with the Conservative Party led by Arthur Balfour and their Liberal Unionist allies receiving the most votes, but the Liberals, who were now led by H. H. Asquith following the death of Henry Campbell-Bannerman in 1908, winning the most seats, returning two more MPs than the Conservatives. Asquith's government remained in power with the support of the Irish Parliamentary Party, led by John Redmond. Another general election was soon held in December.
The Labour Party, led by Arthur Henderson, returned 40 MPs. Much of this apparent increase (from the 29 Labour MPs elected in 1906) came from the defection, a few years earlier, of Lib Lab MPs from the Liberal Party to Labour.