1955 Malayan general election

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1955 Malayan general election
Flag of Malaya (1950-1963).svg
27 July 1955 1959  →
52 of the 98 seats in the Federal Legislative Council
27 seats needed for a majority
Registered1,240,058
Turnout82.84%
 First partySecond party
  Tunku abd rahman (cropped, 4to3 port).jpg Abbas Alias.jpeg
Leader Tunku Abdul Rahman Abbas Alias
Party UMNO PMIP
Alliance Alliance
Seats won511
Popular vote818,01340,667
Percentage81.68%4.06%
1955 Malayan Federal Legislative Council election by constituency.svg
Results by constituency
Elected Chief Minister

Tunku Abdul Rahman
Alliance

General elections were held in the Federation of Malaya on Wednesday, 27 July 1955, the only general election before independence in 1957. They were held to elect members of the Federal Legislative Council, whose members had previously been fully appointed by the British High Commissioner. Voting took place in all 52 federal constituencies, each electing one member. State elections also took place in all 136 state constituencies in nine states of Malaya and two settlements from 10 October 1954 to 12 November 1955, each electing one councillor to the State Council or Settlement Council.

Contents

The Pan-Malayan Islamic Party (PMIP) was formed primarily to contest in the 1955 elections. Previously the PMIP had been known as the "Pan-Malayan Islamic Association", as a part of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). PMIP won support by proclaiming its aim of making Islam the base of the Malay society in the north of Malay Peninsula, which was facing the lowest economic growth in Malaya.

The elections resulted in a decisive win for the Alliance Party, an alliance of the UMNO, the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) and Malayan Indian Congress (MIC), and a resounding defeat for Parti Negara, led by former UMNO president Onn Jaafar. Onn himself failed to win a seat, while the Alliance proceeded to form the new government, with its leader Tunku Abdul Rahman becoming Chief Minister. [1]

Thirty Alliance candidates had majorities of over 10,000 votes. Nine of them had majorities of over 20,000. Forty-three of their opponents lost their deposits. [2]

Timelines

Federal Legislative Council

Source: [3]

State Council

StateNomination DateState election
Flag of Johor.svg Johor 1 September 195410 October 1954
Flag of Terengganu.svg Terengganu 29 October 1954
Flag of Selangor.svg Selangor 11 August 195527 September 1955
Flag of Kedah.svg Kedah 14 August 1955nil [4]
Flag of Kelantan.svg Kelantan 15 August 195519 September 1955
Flag of Perlis.svg Perlis 17 August 195524 September 1955
Flag of Pahang.svg Pahang 25 August 195526 September 1955
Flag of Negeri Sembilan.svg Negeri Sembilan 8 September 195512 October 1955
Flag of Perak.svg Perak 1 October 195512 November 1955

Settlement Council

SettlementNomination DateState election
Flag of Penang (Malaysia).svg Penang 13 January 195519 February 1955
Flag of Malacca.svg Malacca 4 August 1955nil [5]

Results

The Alliance Party won around 80% of the total vote and 51 out of 52 seats contested. PMIP won their only seat in Krian, Perak. Its sole winning candidate, Haji Ahmad Tuan Hussein, an Islamic scholar, was subsequently nicknamed "Mr. Opposition". Voter turnout was 82.8%.

Party or allianceVotes%Seats
Alliance Party United Malays National Organisation 589,93358.9034
Malayan Chinese Association 201,21220.0915
Malayan Indian Congress 26,8682.682
Total818,01381.6851
Parti Negara 78,9097.880
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 40,6674.061
National Association of Perak20,9962.100
Perak Malay League5,4330.540
Labour Party of Malaya 4,7860.480
Perak Progressive Party 1,0810.110
Independents31,6423.160
Total1,001,527100.0052
Valid votes1,001,52797.50
Invalid/blank votes25,7232.50
Total votes1,027,250100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,240,05882.84
Source: The Malayan Elections, Francis G. Carnell. [6]

Total Electorate including Uncontested Constituency (Wellesley North) was 1268248 [7]

Results by state

Source: [7]

Johore

PartyVotes%Seats
Malayan Chinese Association 52,26136.983
United Malays National Organisation 50,41935.674
Parti Negara 19,43313.750
Malayan Indian Congress 18,96813.421
Independents2530.180
Total141,334100.008
Valid votes141,33497.99
Invalid/blank votes2,9002.01
Total votes144,234100.00
Registered voters/turnout178,11480.98

Kedah

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 106,20463.894
Malayan Chinese Association 48,94729.452
Parti Negara 6,6924.030
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 1,5630.940
Independents2,8171.690
Total166,223100.006
Valid votes166,22398.11
Invalid/blank votes3,2011.89
Total votes169,424100.00
Registered voters/turnout193,86587.39

Kelantan

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 130,51378.095
Parti Negara 20,45912.240
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 13,3998.020
Independents2,7581.650
Total167,129100.005
Valid votes167,12996.83
Invalid/blank votes5,4663.17
Total votes172,595100.00
Registered voters/turnout205,90183.82

Malacca

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 26,79053.681
Malayan Chinese Association 17,10434.271
Parti Negara 2,8215.650
Independents3,1946.400
Total49,909100.002
Valid votes49,90998.08
Invalid/blank votes9761.92
Total votes50,885100.00
Registered voters/turnout64,70878.64

Negri Sembilan

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 33,25466.342
Malayan Chinese Association 8,40216.761
Parti Negara 7,96815.890
Independents5061.010
Total50,130100.003
Valid votes50,13098.23
Invalid/blank votes9031.77
Total votes51,033100.00
Registered voters/turnout58,31887.51

Pahang

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 46,93289.953
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 1,9993.830
Independents3,2446.220
Total52,175100.003
Valid votes52,17597.80
Invalid/blank votes1,1712.20
Total votes53,346100.00
Registered voters/turnout65,24081.77

Penang

PartyVotes%Seats
Malayan Chinese Association 22,95048.481
United Malays National Organisation 14,86531.404
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 3,5237.440
Labour Party of Malaya 2,6505.600
Independents3,3547.080
Total47,342100.005
Valid votes47,34298.44
Invalid/blank votes7491.56
Total votes48,091100.00
Registered voters/turnout71,53667.23

Total Electorate for Penang is 99726. However, the registered voter count above refers to the four constituencies that were contested and excludes Wellesley North (Uncontested constituency)

Perak

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 72,69444.585
Malayan Chinese Association 34,43921.123
National Association of Perak20,99612.880
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 13,6948.401
Malayan Indian Congress 7,9004.851
Perak Malay League5,4333.330
Labour Party of Malaya 1,1180.690
Perak Progressive Party 1,0810.660
Independents5,6993.500
Total163,054100.0010
Valid votes163,05496.84
Invalid/blank votes5,3223.16
Total votes168,376100.00
Registered voters/turnout206,46681.55

Perlis

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 17,76966.841
Independents8,81433.160
Total26,583100.001
Valid votes26,58397.83
Invalid/blank votes5902.17
Total votes27,173100.00
Registered voters/turnout30,93687.84

Selangor

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 33,06946.924
Malayan Chinese Association 17,10924.273
Parti Negara 11,79616.740
Pan-Malayan Islamic Party 6,4899.210
Labour Party of Malaya 1,0181.440
Independents1,0031.420
Total70,484100.007
Valid votes70,48498.01
Invalid/blank votes1,4291.99
Total votes71,913100.00
Registered voters/turnout85,57984.03

Terengganu

PartyVotes%Seats
United Malays National Organisation 57,42484.873
Parti Negara 10,24015.130
Total67,664100.003
Valid votes67,66495.73
Invalid/blank votes3,0164.27
Total votes70,680100.00
Registered voters/turnout92,94876.04

State and Settlement Councils

Notes

  1. ↑ Gill, Ranjit (1990). Of Political Bondage. Sterling Corporate Services. p. 40. ISBN   981-00-2136-4.
  2. ↑ "HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS/1955-ELECTION-RESULTS at main · TindakMalaysia/HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS". GitHub. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS/Malaysia_Federal_Elections_Summary.csv at main · TindakMalaysia/HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS". GitHub. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS/1955-ELECTION-RESULTS/METADATA_NEW/MALAYA_STATE_1954-55_ELECTION_RESULTS_METADATA.csv at main · TindakMalaysia/HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS". GitHub. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS/1955-ELECTION-RESULTS/METADATA_NEW/MALAYA_STATE_1954-55_ELECTION_RESULTS_METADATA.csv at main · TindakMalaysia/HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS". GitHub. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Carnell, Francis G. (December 1955). "The Malayan Elections". Pacific Affairs. 28 (4). University of British Columbia: 315–330. doi:10.2307/3035316. ISSN   0030-851X. JSTOR   3035316.
  7. 1 2 "HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS/1955-ELECTION-RESULTS at main · TindakMalaysia/HISTORICAL-ELECTION-RESULTS". GitHub. Retrieved 3 July 2025.

References

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