1–27 July 1886 1892 → 247 seats, 43.5% 319 seats, 47.4% 70 128 Dates 1 Jul 1886 – 27 Jul 1886 | April 1881 April 1880 317 191 1,103,779 1,353,581 | |
 | ||
Winner Robert Gascoyn | ||
The 1886 United Kingdom general election took place from 1–27 July 1886. It resulted in a major reversal of the results of the 1885 election as the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury in an electoral pact with the breakaway Unionist wing of the Liberals led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain. The new Liberal Unionist party gave the Conservatives their parliamentary majority but did not join them in a formal coalition.
William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals, who supported Irish Home Rule, and their sometimes allies, the Irish Parliamentary Party led by Charles Stewart Parnell, placed a distant second. This ended the period of Liberal dominance – they had held power for 18 of the 27 years since 1859 and won five of the six elections held during that time, but would only be in power for three of the next 19 years.