Hungarian parliamentary election, 1958

Hungarian parliamentary election, 1958
All 338 seats in the National Assembly ; 170 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	98.38%

Last updated April 08, 2019

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 16 November 1958.^[1] They were the first elections held after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The Communist Hungarian Working People's Party had been reorganized as the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, under the leadership of a more moderate Communist, János Kádár. However, as was the case during the era of Mátyás Rákosi, voters were presented with a single list of Communists and pro-Communist independents. The Socialist Workers' Party won 276 of the 338 seats, with the remaining 62 going to independents.^[2]

Hungary is a country in Central Europe. Spanning 93,030 square kilometres (35,920 sq mi) in the Carpathian Basin, it borders Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Austria to the northwest, Romania to the east, Serbia to the south, Croatia to the southwest, and Slovenia to the west. With about 10 million inhabitants, Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union. The official language is Hungarian, which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world. Hungary's capital and largest city is Budapest. Other major urban areas include Debrecen, Szeged, Miskolc, Pécs and Győr.

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956, or the Hungarian Uprising, was a nationwide revolution against the Hungarian People's Republic and its Soviet-imposed policies, lasting from 23 October until 10 November 1956. Leaderless when it first began, it was the first major threat to Soviet control since the Red Army drove Nazi Germany from its territory at the End of World War II in Europe.

The Hungarian Working People's Party was the ruling communist party of Hungary from 1948 to 1956. It was formed by a merger of the Hungarian Communist Party (MKP) and the Hungarian Social Democratic Party. Ostensibly a union of equals, the merger had actually occurred as a result of massive pressure brought to bear on the Social Democrats by both the Hungarian Communists, as well as the Soviet Union. The few independent-minded Social Democrats who had not been sidelined by Communist salami tactics were pushed out in short order after the merger, leaving the party as essentially the MKP under a new name.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party	6,431,832	99.6	276	+70
Independents	6,431,832	99.6	62	–30
Against	28,651	0.4	–	–
Invalid/blank votes	33,197	–	–	–
Total	6,493,680	100	338	+40
Registered voters/turnout	6,600,686	98.4	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

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References

↑ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p899 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p931

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[NS-1] Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p899 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

[2] Nohlen & Stöver, p931