1936 Egyptian parliamentary election

1936 Egyptian parliamentary election

←  1929 May 1936 1942  →

First party Second party Third party   Leader Mostafa el-Nahas Mohamed Mahmoud Hafiz Ramadan Bey Party Wafd Liberal Constitutional National Seats won 190 15 4

Prime Minister before election Aly Maher Pasha Ittihad Party Subsequent Prime Minister Mostafa el-Nahas Wafd Party

Parliamentary elections were held in Egypt in May 1936. ^[1] The election was held following the death of King Fuad I, and his son Farouk's ascension to the throne. The result was a victory for the Wafd Party, which won 190 of the 232 seats. King Farouk's coronation was held in the newly elected parliament on 29 July 1937.

Background

The 1923 constitution was restored on December 12th, 1935, allowing for the first free elections since 1929. ^[2] The elections were held under Ali Maher's caretaker government with direct elections and universal adult male suffrage. ^[3] The elections for the Chamber of Deputies took place on the 2nd of May and the Senate on the 7th. ^{[4] [a]}

Results

Cartoon by Akher Saa showing the Wafd crushing their opponents after the 1936 election: "I can crush you... but I don't want to get my hands dirty!"

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Wafd Party	794,966	62.05	190
	Liberal Constitutional Party	157,454	12.29	15
	National Party	20,275	1.58	4
	Ittihad al-Sha'b Party	174,535	13.62	14
	Independents	133,855	10.45	9
Total		1,281,085	100.00	232
Source: M.F Khatib (1954) Appendix II Table II, page 488

References

1. "NATIONALISTS VICTORS IN EGYPTIAN ELECTION; With Returns Incomplete, Wafd Has 118 Seats, Against 27 for the Opposition". The New York Times . 1936-05-04. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-08-13.
2. Khatib 1954, p. 65.
3. Quraishi 1967, p. 232.
4. Deeb 1979, p. 332.
5. Moore 1965, p. 26.

1. Deeb puts the Wafd victory at 179 out of 232 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 65 out of 79 seats in the Senate. ^[4] Moore puts the number of Wafdist seats at 166 out of 232 in the chamber and 62 out of 79 seats in the senate. ^[5]

Sources

• Deeb, Marius (1979). Party Politics in Egypt: the Wafd & its Rivals 1919–1939. Ithaca Press. ISBN   9780903729406.
• Khatib, M.F (1954). The working of parliamentary institutions in Egypt, 1924-1952 (Thesis). University of Edinburgh.
• Marsot, Afaf Lutfi Al-Sayyid (1977). Egypt’s Liberal Experiment: 1922–1936. University of California Press. ISBN   9780520031098.
• Quraishi, Zaheer M. (1967). Liberal Nationalism in Egypt; Rise and Fall of the Wafd Party. Jamal Printing Press. ISBN   9780861990009.
• Terry, Janice J. (1982). The Wafd: Cornerstone of Egyptian Political Power. Publisher: Third World Centre for Research and Publishing. ISBN   9780861990009.
• Moore, David F. (January 1965). The Wafd Party of Egypt: 1936-1945 (Master of Arts thesis). American University of Beirut.
• Thornhill, Michael T. (June 2010). "Informal Empire, Independent Egypt and the Accession of King Farouk". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 38 (2): 279–302.