The UNP took Matale District winning 3 seats at the 2015 General Election, while the UPFA was reduced to 2 seats.

The UNP received 138,241 votes while the UPFA won 126,315 votes. Meanwhile the JVP managed to obtain 10,947.

In the 2010 General Election, the UPFA won the Matale District by a landslide, winning 4 out of 5 seats. The UNP was reduced to one seat in 2010.

Matale is the home district of Janaka Bandara Tennakoon, who was a staunch ally of Mahinda Rajapaksa duing the election campaign.