Denver (House of Assembly of South Africa constituency)

Denver
Former constituency for the South African House of Assembly
Location of Denver within Johannesburg (1910)
Province	Transvaal
Electorate	3,158 (1929)
Former constituency
Created	1910
Abolished	1933
Number of members	1
Last MHA	Frederic Creswell (Lab)

Denver was a constituency in the Transvaal Province of South Africa, which existed from 1910 to 1933. It covered parts of the inner eastern suburbs of Johannesburg, centred on the suburb of Denver. Throughout its existence it elected one member to the House of Assembly and one to the Transvaal Provincial Council.

Franchise notes

When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the electoral qualifications in use in each pre-existing colony were kept in place. In the Transvaal Colony, and its predecessor the South African Republic, the vote was restricted to white men, and as such, elections in the Transvaal Province were held on a whites-only franchise from the beginning. The franchise was also restricted by property and education qualifications until the 1933 general election, following the passage of the Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 and the Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931. From then on, the franchise was given to all white citizens aged 21 or over. Non-whites remained disenfranchised until the end of apartheid and the introduction of universal suffrage in 1994. ^[1]

History

Denver was a largely working-class seat, and was closely fought between the Labour Party and various non-socialist candidates. Its final and most notable MP - the only one to represent the seat for more than a single term - was Labour leader Frederic Creswell, who moved there in 1924 after briefly representing the Durban seat of Stamford Hill. The seat was abolished in 1933, at which point Creswell moved to Bellville in the Cape Town suburbs.

Members

Election		Member	Party
	1910	Donald Macaulay	Unionist
	1915	W. J. Parrack
	1920	T. E. Drew	Labour
	1921	C. E. Nixon	SAP
	1924	Frederic Creswell	Labour
	1929
	1933	Constituency abolished

^{[2] [3]}

Detailed results

Elections in the 1910s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1910 South African general election § Denver.[ edit ]

General election 1910: Denver

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Donald Macaulay	866	57.1	New
	Labour	T. Landye	652	42.9	New
Majority			214	14.2	N/A
	Unionist win (new seat)

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1915 South African general election § Denver.[ edit ]

General election 1915: Denver

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	W. J. Parrack	789	47.3	−9.8
	Labour	J. J. Mulvey	538	32.2	−10.7
	National	G. A. Hattingh	341	20.4	New
Majority			251	15.1	+0.9
Turnout			1,668	75.9	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	+0.5

Elections in the 1920s

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1920 South African general election § Denver.[ edit ]

General election 1920: Denver

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. E. Drew	996	45.2	+13.0
	Unionist	W. J. Parrack	667	30.2	−17.1
	National	S. P. van Wijk	541	24.5	+4.1
Majority			329	15.0	N/A
Turnout			2,204	69.8	−6.1
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+15.1

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 1921 South African general election § Denver.[ edit ]

General election 1921: Denver

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	South African	C. E. Nixon	961	42.9	+12.7
	Labour	T. E. Drew	696	31.0	−14.2
	National	J. J. B. Pohl	585	26.1	+1.6
Majority			265	11.9	N/A
Turnout			2,242	68.2	−1.6
	South African gain from Labour		Swing	+13.5

References

1. "EISA South Africa: Historical franchise arrangements". Eisa.org.za. Archived from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
2. Schoeman, B.M. (1977). Parlementêre verkiesings in Suid-Afrika 1910-1976. Pretoria: Aktuele Publikasies.
3. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa (1972). "House of Assembly" (vol. 5, pp. 617–636). Cape Town: Nasionale Opvoedkundige Uitgewery (Nasou).