1715 British general election

{{short description|Election in Great Britain}}

{{EngvarB|date=April 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox election

| country = Kingdom of Great Britain

| type = parliamentary

| ongoing = no

| previous_election = 1713 British general election

| previous_year = 1713

| previous_mps = outgoing members

| next_election = 1722 British general election

| next_year = 1722

| seats_for_election = All 558 seats in the House of Commons | majority_seats= 280

| elected_mps = elected members

| election_date = {{start and end dates|1715|1|22|1715|3|9|df=yes}}

| image_size = 160x160px

| image1 = {{eppt|Whigs (British political party)}}

| leader1 = Whig Junto

| leader_since1 = {{c.|1695}}

| party1 = Whigs (British political party)

| leaders_seat1 =

| seats1 = 341

| seat_change1 = {{increase}}180

| popular_vote1 =

| percentage1 =

| image2 = Henry St John, 1st Viscount_Bolingbroke (1678-1751).jpg

| leader2 = Viscount Bolingbroke

| leader_since2 = July 1714

| party2 = Tories (British political party)

| leaders_seat2 =

| seats2 = 217

| seat_change2 = {{decrease}}152

| popular_vote2 =

| percentage2 =

| map2 = File:Results of the 1715 UK General Election.svg

| map2_caption = Composition of the House of Commons after election

}}

The 1715 British general election was held on 22 January 1715 to 9 March 1715, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 5th Parliament of Great Britain to be held, after the 1707 merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland.

In October 1714, soon after George I had arrived in London after ascending to the throne, he dismissed the Tory cabinet and replaced it with one almost entirely composed of Whigs, as they were responsible for securing his succession.

The election of 1715 saw the Whigs win an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons, and afterwards virtually all Tories in central or local government were purged, leading to a period of Whig ascendancy lasting almost fifty years during which Tories were almost entirely excluded from office. The Whigs then moved to impeach Robert Harley, the former Tory first minister. After he was imprisoned in the Tower of London for two years, the case ultimately ended with his acquittal in 1717.