Rainian House of Councillors election, 1871

The 2nd Rainian House of Councillors election was held from the 13th August - 22nd September, 1871 to elect a new House of Councillors, which had been dissolved by Prime Minister Fydd Rochester after its six year term expired.

The British Imperial's came into the election in a weak position due to the Montana Affair. On a condition of Montana joining the federation the Prime Minister Rochester promised that the federal government would take up Montana's debts - however, the government reneged on the promise after facing economic difficulties of its own and delegated the responsibility to pay off the debt to the Montanan provincial government. This provoked widespread opposition to the British Imperial government, with the Union Party claiming the British Imperial's had "betrayed the federalist principles of the Commonwealth".

The election saw the Union Party win a majority with Alfred Henry Lawson becoming Prime Minister, despite the British Imperial's winning a larger share of the vote. This higher share however was wasted on large majorities in safe seats whilst key seats in Montana and the Northwest Territory saw the British Imperial vote collapse. The British Imperials would not win back Montana until 1894.

The turnout was 82.58%.

Election process
The election used a voting system where each MP was elected in a single member constituency. Voting was done on the basis of a with white men over the age of 21 who owned property worth £2 annually being eligible to vote. The vote was conducted over a month as people often had to travel large distances to polling stations.

Voting was as it had in 1865 done in the open, often leading to. As the British Imperial party with its close links to big business benefited the most from this corruption, the Union Party promised to introduce a if they won the election.