1953 South African general election

none December 2009 January 2020 South Africa 1928 Parliamentary 1948 South African general election 1948 15 April 1953 1958 South African general election 1958 All 156 general roll seats in the House of Assembly 79 1,385,591 87.95% ( 7.71pp) 130x130px DFMalanPortret (cropped).jpg D. F. Malan National Party (South Africa) Piketberg 41.63%, 79 seatsReunited National Party and Afrikaner Party combined. 94 15 598,718 49.48% 7.85pp KoosStrauss (cropped).jpg Koos Strauss United Party (South Africa) Germiston District 49.18%, 65 seats 57 8 576,474 47.65% 1.53pp Labour Party (South Africa) 130 95 John Christie Labour Party (South Africa) Johannesburg City(died before polling day) 2.57%, 6 seats 5 1 34,730 2.87% 0.30pp Prime Minister D. F. Malan National Party (South Africa) D. F. Malan National Party (South Africa) 300px Results by province 300px Largest party by province General elections were held in South Africa on 15 April 1953. The elections consolidated the position of the National Party under D. F. Malan, which won an absolute majority of the 156 elected seats in the House of Assembly, also receiving the most votes. Its first-time majority of the white electorate would be retained until the 1989 elections. The United Party under J. G. N. Strauss, who had become leader after Jan Smuts' death in 1950, lost several seats, and suffered several splits after the election. The Labour Party leader died five days before the election. Cape Coloured voters voted for the last time in a general election until 1994, overwhelmingly for the United Party. Changes in composition Native representative members The second term of the white MPs elected to represent black voters, from special electoral districts in Cape Province under the Representation of Natives Act 1936, expired on 30 June 1948 (just over a month after the National Party came to power in the 1948 general election). These seats were not vacated by a dissolution of Parliament, so they were not contested at either the 1948 or 1953 general elections. The three representative seats were filled by elections on 17 November 1948. Two Independent MPs (W.H. Stuart of Transkeian Territories and Mrs V.M.L. Ballinger of Cape Eastern) were returned. The third seat was taken by Sam Kahn, a South African Communist Party member, who gained the seat from an Independent. The term of these members expired on 30 June 1954 (the first 30 June to fall after five years from the date of election).Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1946–1948 9752The South African Constitution H.J. May 1955 Juta & Co 101–109 The Communist Party dissolved itself (at least as an open political party) when legislation to ban it was going through Parliament in 1950. Sam Kahn was ultimately banned from being a member of Parliament, in 1952, under the anti-Communist legislation. Subsequently, two successive by-elections were held in Cape Western, but the victors had similar views to Mr Kahn and were also excluded from Parliament. The seat was then left vacant for the remainder of the term.Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1950–1952 12245 South West Africa The white electors of the territory of South West Africa (present day Namibia), were allocated six seats in the House of Assembly. These new electoral divisions were first filled at by-elections on 31 August 1950. The governing National Party won all the seats, which were additional to the 150 general roll seats allocated to the Union of South Africa.Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1950–1952 11076 Delimitation of electoral divisions The South Africa Act 1909 had provided for a delimitation commission to define the boundaries for each electoral division. The representation by province, under the tenth delimitation report of 1953, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous (1947) delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged.South Africa 1982 Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa 129 Provinces Cape Natal Orange Free State Transvaal Total Divisions 54 (55) 15 (16) 13 68 (66) 150 The above table does not include the three native representative seats in Cape Province nor the six South-West African divisions, which were not included in the delimitation of the general roll seats for the Union under the South Africa Act 1909. Position at the dissolution At the end of the 10th Union Parliament, when it was dissolved in 1953, the House of Assembly consisted of two groups of members. General roll voters (white voters from the whole Union and South-West Africa and coloured electors in Cape Province and Natal) were represented by 156 members. Black voters in Cape Province were represented by three white MPs, known at the time as Native Representative Members (NRM). The general election, on 15 April 1953, only affected the representatives of general roll voters. From 1938 the Native Representative Members had fixed terms and were elected on a different date.Smuts: A Reappraisal Bernard Friedman George, Allen & Unwin 1975 0-04-920045-3 122 The overall composition of the House, set out by province before the general election, was as below.Keesing's Contemporary Archives 1952–1954 Province National United Labour Independent Total Cape (general) 28 27 - - 55 Cape (NRM) - - - 3 3 Natal 3 11 2 - 16 Orange FS 12 1 - - 13 SW Africa 6 - - - 6 Transvaal 37 25 4 - 66 Total 86 64 6 3 159 Abbreviations in the province list. Orange FS: Orange Free State SW Africa: South-West Africa NRM: Native Representative Members Note: The NRM seat, formerly held by the Communist Party, is listed as Independent in the above table. Sam Kahn and his two successors, after the Communist Party dissolved its public organisation and went underground, all claimed to be Independents. Campaign Since the 1948 general election Dr Malan's Reunited National Party had merged with its coalition partner, the Afrikaner Party. The merged party was named the National Party (NP). The government had also strengthened its political position, by conferring six parliamentary seats upon the white population of the territory of South West Africa. The principal opposition party was the United Party (UP). Since the previous general election, in 1948, the UPs veteran leader Field Marshal Jan Smuts had died. The new Leader of the Opposition was J.G.N. Strauss. The other parliamentary opposition party was the Labour Party. In 1953, the United Party and the Labour Party had an electoral pact, for the third successive general election. During the campaign, the Labour leader John Christie died. His seat was consequently contested at a by election after the normal day of the general election poll. It was retained by a new Labour candidate and is included in the totals for the results section of this article, The NP promoted its policy of apartheid Dr Malan suggested that the white voters could unite around the Nationalist programme. The UP criticised the idea of apartheid as impractical and eventually disastrous. Mr Strauss campaigned alleging that the first task of a South African government should be the suppression of "Native" crime, who created insecurity in the major cities. United Party supporters were optimistic on the eve of the poll of regaining their position as the largest party.The Times. 14 April 1953. Results Due to the first-past-the-post system, the Nationalists won 37 more seats than United despite finishing only two percentage points ahead of United in the popular vote. As Cape Coloured voters still exercised this right in the Cape province, the majority among white voters would actually have been higher. This was enough to deliver the Nationalists a second consecutive majority government. File:South African House of Assembly 1953.svg National Party 598718 94 +15 United Party 576474 57 –8 Labour Party 34730 5 –1 Native Representative Members 3 0 +6 8709 1385591 24 April 1953 Notice 862, Department of the Interior https://gazettes.africa/akn/za/officialGazette/government-gazette/1953-04-24/5057/eng@1953-04-24 Government Gazette CLXXII 5057 56 http://africanelections.tripod.com/za.html#1953_House_of_Assembly_Election African Elections Database 18 October 2020 7 June 2011 https://web.archive.org/web/20110607021412/http://africanelections.tripod.com/za.html#1953_House_of_Assembly_Election dead By province Province National United Labour Independent TotalCape (general)30240054Cape (NRM)00033Natal2112015Orange FS1300013SW Africa60006Transvaal43223068Total945753159Source: Keesings Notes References External links S. African elections (1953), AP Archive footage Category:General elections in South Africa South Africa General Category:April 1953 in Africa