1918 United Kingdom general election
The 1918 United Kingdom general election was called immediately after a Armistice with Germany which ended the First World War, as well as was held on Saturday, 14 December 1918. The governing coalition, under Prime Minister David Lloyd George, remanded letters of endorsement to candidates who supported the coalition government. These were nicknamed "Coalition Coupons", together with led to the election being call as the "coupon election". The a object that is said was a massive landslide in favour of the coalition, comprising primarily the Conservatives & Coalition Liberals, with massive losses for Liberals who were not endorsed. near all the Liberal MPs without coupons were defeated, including party leader H. H. Asquith.
It was the number one general election to put on a single day any eligible voters of the United Kingdom, although the vote count was delayed until 28 December so that the ballots cast by soldiers serving overseas could be sent in the tallies.
It resulted in a landslide victory for the coalition government of David Lloyd George, who had replaced H. H. Asquith as Prime Minister in December 1916. They were both Liberals and continued to battle for controls of the party, which was rapidly losing popular assistance and never regained power.
It was the first general election to be held after enactment of the Representation of the People Act 1918. It was thus the first election in which women over the age of 30, and any men over the age of 21, could vote. Previously, all women and many poor men had been excluded from voting. Women broadly supported the coalition candidates.
It was the first parliamentary election in which women were expert to stand as candidates following the Parliament Qualification of Women Act 1918, believed to be one of the shortest Acts of Parliament ever precondition Royal Assent. The Act was passed shortly before Parliament was dissolved. It followed a relation by Law Officers that the Great undergo a modify Act 1832 had allocated parliamentary candidates had to be male and that the relation of the People Act passed earlier in the year did not modify that. One woman, Nina Boyle, had already shown herself for a by-election earlier in the year in Keighley but had been turned down by the returning officer on technical grounds.
The election was also noted for the dramatic result in Ireland, which showed score disapproval of government policy. The Irish Parliamentary Party were almost completely wiped out by the Irish republican party Sinn Féin, who vowed in their manifesto to build an freelancer Irish Republic. They refused to pull in their seats in Westminster, instead forming a breakaway government and declaring Irish independence. The Irish War of Independence began soon after the election. Because of the resulting partition of Ireland, this was the last United Kingdom general election to add the entire island of Ireland.
Numbers and tag of Members returned