1904 Cape Colony parliamentary election

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1904 Cape Colony parliamentary election
Flag of the Cape Colony 1876-1910.svg
  1898 January & February 1904 1908  

All 95 seats in the Assembly
48 seats needed for a majority
 Majority partyMinority party
  SirLeanderStarrJameson.jpg Sir James Molteno - First Speaker of South African Parliament.jpg
Leader Leander Starr Jameson James Tennant Molteno
Party Progressive South African Party
Leader's seatGrahamstownSomerset East
Seats won5042
Seat changeIncrease2.svg6

1903-1904 Cape Colony parliamentary election map.svg
Green - Cape Progressive Party
Blue - South African Party
Grey - Independent

Prime Minister before election

Gordon Sprigg
Independent Progressive

Elected Prime Minister

Leander Starr Jameson
Progressive

Elections for the House of Assembly were held in Cape Colony in 1904. The election was a victory for the Progressives under Leander Starr Jameson, who had first achieved prominence for his role in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. [1]

Contents

The incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Sprigg had been elected in 1898 as a Progressive, however the Progressives had been wracked by internal divisions. Whilst most of the party had been able to reconcile under Jameson, Sprigg and his Commissioner of Public Works Arthur Douglass, had been forced to contest the election as Independent Progressives. Both of them would lose their seats to Progressive candidates. The election also saw former Prime Minister William Schreiner lose his seat. [2] [3] Sprigg would resign as Prime Minister some days after the last results were announced, and was succeeded by Jameson. [4] Following the election James Tennant Molteno would be replaced by John X. Merriman as leader of the South African Party.

Thirteen constituencies were uncontested. [5] Following the election of 95 members, Act 4 was passed, which gave a further twelve seats to the House. These were elected through by-elections in the same year. [5]

Results

Map of Legislative Assembly results by province. Cape House of Assembly by Legislative Provinces 1904.png
Map of Legislative Assembly results by province.
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Progressive Party 50+6
South African Party 42New
IndependentSouth African Party alliance2
Pro-SAP independent1
Labour Party0New
Other parties0
Total95+16
Total votes83,801
Registered voters/turnout135,17761.99
Source: Smith

Statistics

ConstituencySeatsRegistered votersVotes availableVotes cast
Albany 22,0364,0723,091
Albert 21,8243,6482,324
Aliwal North 21,4522,9042,271
Barkly West 21,9533,9062,246
Beaufort West 22,1244,2482,696
Caledon 22,4784,9563,469
Cape Town 717,131119,91743,108
Cathcart 11,1711,171814
Clanwilliam 21,7133,426Unopposed
Colesberg 22,1844,3683,062
Cradock 22,0254,050Unopposed
East London 34,69714,0915,036
Fort Beaufort 21,6593,3182,516
George 44,00216,00810,593
Graaff-Reinet 22,4174,8342,727
Graham's Town 21,8373,6741,834
Griqualand East 21,9893,978Unopposed
Humansdorp 11,3951,395Unopposed
Jansenville 21,9373,874Unopposed
Kimberley 46,40425,61612,683
King William's Town 32,8008,4003,449
Malmesbury 22,4434,886Unopposed
Mafeking 1758758Unopposed
Middelburg 11,4841,484Unopposed
Namaqualand 22,0164,0323,133
Oudtshoorn 33,0609,1804,313
Paarl 32,8648,5926,890
Piquetberg 21,5823,1642,332
Prieska 11,0291,029736
Port Elizabeth 510,95154,75522,049
Queen's Town 33,61710,8515,514
Richmond 21,9223,8441,977
Riversdale 22,2094,418Unopposed
Simon's Town 11,6341,6341,104
Somerset East 22,5775,1544,300
Stellenbosch 22,1954,3903,559
Swellendam 22,6955,3903,605
Tembuland 22,7895,5784,079
Uitenhage 33,0809,2405,712
Victoria East27791,5581,029
Victoria West 22,3344,668Unopposed
Vryburg 29441,888Unopposed
Wodehouse22,0014,0022,663
Woodstock 36,44219,3268,176
Worcester 33,63010,890Unopposed
Wynberg 34,91414,7424,079
Total107135,177437,307187,169
Source: Statistical register of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope

References

  1. John Charrington Smith, Alan (1980). General Elections in the Cape Colony: 1898-1908 (PDF). University of Cape Town.
  2. Wills, Walter H. (2006). The Anglo-African Who's Who and Biographical Sketchbook, 1907. Jeppestown Press. p. 325. ISBN   9780955393631.
  3. Switzer, Les (1993). Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 159. ISBN   9780199296637.
  4. Garner, James Wilford (1904). "Record of Political Events" . Political Science Quarterly. 19 (2): 366. doi:10.2307/2140296. ISSN   0032-3195.
  5. 1 2 Statistical register of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, piv