Rainian House of Councillors election, 1882

The 4th Rainian House of Councillors election was held from the 17th August - 21st September, 1882 to elect all 83 members of the House of Councillors.

The Union Party government of Alfred Henry Lawson which had been in power since 1871 was struggling from deep divisions over the issue of with Sierra, with many more  Union party MP's opposing trade with Sierra whilst the so-called "" wanted more integration with. Many feared that increasing trade with independent North American nations would lead to Rainier to be annexed by them, whilst some saw free trade as the first step to the destruction of Rainian industry. With his party heavily divided and his own health failing Lawson called an election to renew his mandate.

The British Imperial Party under Fydd Rochester were eager to end 11 years in political opposition, and were confident of victory. The British Imperial's strong stance convinced many that the British Imperial's would protect Rainian industry and keep Rainier in the realm of the Crown. In order to shed the British Imperial's image as being a party of "" and proposed a moderate form of that emphasised social reform.

The British Imperial's were able to gain a majority government, despite getting a lower share of the vote than in 1877. The Union Party's vote collapsed and it lost key seats in strongholds such as Oregon and Cascadia. The election marked the start of a string of British Imperial party electoral victories with the Union Party returning to government 30 years later in 1912.