| 1880 election |
| 1885 election |
| 1886 election |
The 1885 UK general election was from the 24th November - 18th December 1885. It saw the Liberals, led by William Gladstone, win the most seats, but not an overall majority. As the Irish Nationalists held the balance of power between them and the Conservatives, this exacerbated divisions within the Liberals over Irish Home Rule and led to a split and another general election the following year.
| Party | Votes | Seats | Loss/Gain | Share of Vote (%) |
| Liberal | 2,199,198 | 319 | - 33 | 47.4 |
| Conservative | 2,020,927 | 249 | + 12 | 43.5 |
| Irish Nationalists | 310,608 | 86 | + 23 | 6.9 |
| Independent Liberal | 80,435 | 16 | 1.8 | |
| Independent Conservative | 12,599 | 2 | 0.3 | |
| Independent | 6,570 | 0 | 0.1 |
Total votes: 4,374,984. All parties with more than 5,000 votes shown.