1915 South African general election

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1915 South African general election
Red Ensign of South Africa (1912-1951).svg
  1910 20 October 1915 1920  

All 130 seats in the House of Assembly
66 seats needed for a majority
Registered365,307
Turnout71.57%
 First partySecond party
  Louisbotha.jpg
SirThomasSmartt.jpg
Leader Louis Botha Thomas Smartt
Party South African Unionist
Last election28.45%, 66 seats37.65%, 36 seats
Seats won5439
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 12Increase2.svg 3
Popular vote94,28549,917
Percentage36.67%19.41%
SwingIncrease2.svg 8.22ppDecrease2.svg 18.24pp

 Third partyFourth party
  JBM Hertzog - SA (cropped).jpg
Kolonel Cresswell (cropped).jpg
Leader J. B. M. Hertzog Frederic Creswell
Party National Labour
Last electionDid not exist10.93%, 3 seats
Seats won274
Seat changeNew partyIncrease2.svg 1
Popular vote75,62324,755
Percentage29.41%9.63%
SwingNew partyDecrease2.svg 1.30pp

1915 South African general election map - results by province.svg
Results by province

Prime Minister before election

Louis Botha
South African

Elected Prime Minister

Louis Botha
South African

General elections were held in South Africa on 20 October 1915 to elect the 130 members of the House of Assembly. This was the second Union Parliament. The governing South African Party (SAP) of General Louis Botha emerged from the elections as the largest party, but did not receive an overall majority.

Contents

Botha formed a minority government, which survived with some parliamentary support from the official opposition Unionist Party. [1]

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 second delimitation report of 1913, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous (1910) delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged. [2]

ProvincesCapeNatalOrange Free StateTransvaalTotal
Divisions51171745 (36)130 (121)

Nominations

Since the last general election, the National Party (NP) had split away from the South African Party (SAP). The formal foundation of the new party had been in 1914.

Eight of the 130 seats were uncontested. There were unopposed returns for 5 Unionist Party, 2 SAP and 1 NP candidates.

In the 122 contested constituencies, the candidates nominated included 86 SAP, 83 NP, 39 Unionist and 49 Labour. [3]

Party attitudes

General Botha stood for a policy of conciliation between Afrikaans and English speaking white people. The SAP was mostly supported by moderates of both races. General Hertzog led a republican party which supported a two streams policy – the two white races developing separately. The Unionists were anxious to maintain the imperial connection. The Unionists accordingly preferred the continuation in power of the SAP to the prospect of an NP government. [4]

Results

The vote totals in the table below may not give a complete picture of the balance of political opinion, because of unopposed elections (where no votes were cast) and because most contested seats were not fought by a candidate from all major parties.

The 27 NP candidates elected represented three of the four provinces - 7 from Cape Province, 16 from the Orange Free State and 4 from Transvaal. [5]

South African House of Assembly 1915.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
South African Party 94,28536.6754–12
National Party 75,62329.4127New
Unionist Party 49,91719.4239+3
Labour Party 24,7559.634+1
Socialist League 1400.050New
Independents12,3834.826–10
Total257,103100.00130+9
Valid votes257,10398.34
Invalid/blank votes4,3301.66
Total votes261,433100.00
Registered voters/turnout365,30771.57
Source: Nohlen et al. [6]

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References

  1. The Times, edition of 18 October 1915; in an article on the election refers to the Ministerialist (ie South African) Party and the Unionist Party, only contesting three constituencies against each other in three cornered fights, "these two parties having laid aside their differences until the war is over".
  2. South Africa 1982, p. 129
  3. The Times, edition of 18 October 1915.
  4. The South African Constitution, p. 134.
  5. The Rise of the South African Reich, Chapter 1: The Birth of the National Party
  6. Dieter Nohlen, Michael Krennerich & Bernhard Thibaut (1999) Elections in Africa: A data handbook, pp. 830–835 ISBN   0-19-829645-2