The number of Conservative Party candidates nearly doubled between the 1832 and 1979 elections. This reflects the far greater number of constituencies that were created between those years, the result of the growth in the electorate that came about as a result of the 1832, 1867, 1884 and 1918 reform acts.
1832: 350
1835: 407
1837: 485
1841: 498
1847: 421
1852: 462
1857: 351
1859: 393
1865: 407
1868: 436
1874: 507
1880: 521
1885: 602
1886: 653
1892: 606
1895: 588
1900: 569
1906: 556
1910: 594
1910*: 548
1918: 445
1922: 482
1923: 536
1924: 534
1929: 590
1931: 583
1935: 583
1945: 618
1950: 619
1951: 617
1955: 624
1959: 625
1964: 630
1966: 629
1970: 628
1974: 623
1974**: 622
1979: 622
* = December
** = October