Earl of Liverpool Tory Earl of Liverpool Tory The 1812 United Kingdom general election was the fourth general election after the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, held on 5 October 1812 to 10 November 1812, taking place at the height of the Napoleonic Wars.

The fourth United Kingdom Parliament was dissolved on 29 September 1812, four months after the Earl of Liverpool succeeded to the premiership following the assassination of Spencer Perceval.

Following the 1807 election the Pittite Tory ministry, led as prime minister by the Duke of Portland (who still claimed to be a Whig), continued to prosecute the Napoleonic Wars.

At the core of the opposition were the Foxite Whigs, led since the death of Fox in 1806 by Earl Grey (known by the courtesy title of Viscount Howick and a member of the House of Commons from 1806 to 1807).

Until 1812 the Tory faction associated with another former prime minister, Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, and were also out of office.

[clarification needed] The smallest component of the opposition were the Radicals, who were a largely middle-class group of reformers.

Stooks Smith indicates that there were three days of polling, during which time 950 electors came to the hustings and voted.