The 1859 United Kingdom general election in Ireland produced the last overall victory for the Conservatives in Ireland. They won a majority of seats on the island despite the Liberals receiving over 60% of the vote; this was partly due to a disproportionately large number of Conservative candidates standing unopposed. The franchise was restricted to the middle and upper classes.
Electoral reform in subsequent decades saw something of a rise in the Tory vote in Ireland accompanied by a diminution in the number of seats the party won. This was again due in some degree to the relative numbers of candidates standing unopposed for the two parties.
Results
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ 1859 general election in Ireland
|-
! style="width:100px" colspan=2 | Party
! style="width:70px;"| Candidates
! style="width:70px;"| Unopposed
! style="width:70px;"| Seats
! style="width:40px;"| Seats change
! style="width:40px;"| Votes
! style="width:40px;"| %
! style="width:40px;"| % Change
|-
|
| align=center| 67
| align=center| 36
| align=center| 55
| align=center| 11
| align=center| 35,258
| align=center| 38.9
| align=center| 4.7
|-
|
| align=center| 73
| align=center| 26
| align=center| 50
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 57,409
| align=center| 61.1
| align=center| 13.3
|- class="sortbottom" style="font-weight:bold; background:rgb(232,232,232);"
| colspan=2 style=text-align:right | Total
| align=center| 140
| align=center| 62
| align=center| 105
| align=center|
| align=center| 92,667
| align=center| 100.0
| align=center|
|}
See also
- History of Ireland (1801–1923)