1921 South African general election

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1921 South African general election
Red Ensign of South Africa (1912-1951).svg
  1920 8 February 1921 1924  

All 134 seats in the House of Assembly
68 seats needed for a majority
Registered499,531
Turnout55.60% (Decrease2.svg 11.34pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Genl JC Smuts (cropped).jpg JBM Hertzog - SA (cropped).jpg Kolonel Cresswell (cropped).jpg
Leader Jan Smuts J. B. M. Hertzog Frederic Creswell
Party South African National Labour
Leader's seat Pretoria West Smithfield Troyeville
(lost re-election)
Last election50.51%, 66 seats [a] 32.62%, 43 seats14.65%, 21 seats
Seats won774410
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 11Increase2.svg 1Decrease2.svg 11
Popular vote137,389105,03929,406
Percentage49.90%38.15%10.68%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.61ppIncrease2.svg 5.53ppDecrease2.svg 3.97pp

1921 South African general election map - results by province.svg
Results by province

Prime Minister before election

Jan Smuts
South African

Elected Prime Minister

Jan Smuts
South African

General elections were held in South Africa on 8 February 1921 to elect the 134 members of the House of Assembly. [1] The South African Party, which since the previous election had fused with the Unionist Party, won an absolute majority.

Contents

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 third delimitation report of 1919, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous (1913) delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged. [2]

The electoral divisions used for this general election were the same as those for the 1920 election.

ProvincesCapeNatalOrange Free StateTransvaalTotal
Divisions51171749 (45)134 (130)

Results

South African House of Assembly 1921.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
South African Party 137,38949.9077+11
National Party 105,03938.1544+1
Labour Party 29,40610.6810–11
Socialist League 940.0300
Independents3,3851.231–2
Vacant2
Total275,313100.001340
Valid votes275,31399.13
Invalid/blank votes2,4290.87
Total votes277,742100.00
Registered voters/turnout499,53155.60
Source: Potgieter [3]

Notes

  1. South African Party and Unionist Party combined.

References

  1. The Times, edition of 7 February 1921, p. 11
  2. South Africa 1982, page 129
  3. Dirk J. Potgieter (1971) Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Volume 4, p. 272