Italian general election, 1876

Italian general election, 1876

5–12 November 1876

All 508 seats to the Italian Chamber of Deputies   Majority party Minority party   Leader Agostino Depretis Marco Minghetti Party Historical Left Historical Right Leader's seat Stradella Legnago Seats won 414 94 Seat change 182 182 Popular vote 243,319 97,726 Percentage 70.2% 28.2% Swing 23.8% 25.4%

Prime Minister before election Agostino Depretis Historical Left Elected Prime Minister Agostino Depretis Historical Left

The Italian general election of 1876 was held in Italy on November 5, with a second round of voting on November 12.^[1]

The race

The Historical Left was led by the current Prime Minister of Italy, Agostino Depretis, who became head of the government and early elections were called.

On the other hand, the bloc of the Historical Right was led by Marco Minghetti, former Prime Minister from Bologna.

The election on 5 and 12 November was a snap one, and it came after MPs from Tuscany became dissatisfied with the government of Minghetti following its refusal to intervene in the financial problems of Florence. The government was defeated on a vote on nationalising railways on 18 March 1876 and was forced to resign and Depretis was appointed Prime Minister.^[2] For the first time, the left-wing won an election, taking 414 of the 508 seats, of which 12 were extreme left-wingers.^[2] As opposed to the previous right-wing governments, whose members were largely aristocrats representing rentiers from the north of the country, and held moderate political views including loyalty to the crown and low government spending,^[3] the left-wing government represented the bourgeoisie of the south of the country and supported low taxation, secularism, a strong foreign policy and public jobs.^[2]

Only 605,007 men of a total population of around 28 million were entitled to vote.^[4]

Parties and leaders

Results

← Summary of May 1876 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	Historical Left	243,319	70.2	414	+182
	Historical Right	97,726	28.2	94	−182
	Others	5,530	1.6	0	±0
Invalid/blank votes		11,245	–	–	–
Total		358,253	100	508	±0
Registered voters/turnout		605,007	59.2	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

References

Elections and referendums in Italy
General elections	1861 1865 1867 1870 1874 1876 1880 1882 1886 1890 1892 1895 1897 1900 1904 1909 1913 1919 1921 1924 1929 1934 1946 1948 1953 1958 1963 1968 1972 1976 1979 1983 1987 1992 1994 1996 2001 2006 2008 2013 next
European elections	1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014
Regional elections	1947 1949 1951 1953 1954 1955 1957 1959 1961 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1973 1974 1975 1976 1978 1979 1980 1981 1983 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1993 1994 1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Local elections	1946 1951 1956 1960 1964 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Referendums	1946 1974 1978 1981 1985 1987 1989 1990 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2003 2005 2006 2009 2011 2016 (Apr) 2016 (Dec)
See also: Elections in Abruzzo Aosta Valley Apulia Basilicata Calabria Campania Emilia-Romagna Friuli-Venezia Giulia Lazio Liguria Lombardy Marche Molise Piedmont Sardinia Sicily Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Tuscany Umbria Veneto