1943 Irish general election

The 1943 Irish general election was held on 23 June 1943, having been called on 31 May by proclamation of President Douglas Hyde on the instruction of Taoiseach Éamon de Valera. It took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies for 138 seats in Dáil Éireann the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament). Fianna Fáil lost its overall majority of seats. The newly elected members of the 11th Dáil assembled on 1 July when the Éamon de Valera was re-elected Taoiseach at the head of a minority Fianna Fáil government.

1943 Irish general election

23 June 1943

137 of 138 seats in Dáil Éireann
70 seats needed for a majority
Turnout74.2% 2.5pp
  First party Second party
 
Leader Éamon de Valera W. T. Cosgrave
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael
Leader since 26 March 1926 September 1934
Leader's seat Clare Cork Borough
Last election 77 seats, 51.9% 45 seats, 33.3%
Seats before 77 44
Seats won 67 32
Seat change 10 12
Popular vote 557,525 307,490
Percentage 41.9% 23.1%
Swing 10.0% 10.2%

  Third party Fourth party
 
CnaT
Leader William Norton Michael Donnellan
Party Labour Party Clann na Talmhan
Leader since 19 July 1932 29 June 1939
Leader's seat Kildare Galway East
Last election 9 seats, 10.0% Did not stand
Seats before 9 N/A
Seats won 17 10
Seat change 8 10
Popular vote 208,812 130,452
Percentage 15.7% 9.0%
Swing 5.7% New party

Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.

Taoiseach before election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

Subsequent Taoiseach

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

Exceptionally, because of the state of emergency arising from the Second World War, the outgoing Dáil was not dissolved until after the election, although it did not meet after 26 May.[1] In April the government had proposed to postpone the election by introducing a bill to extend the maximum term of the Dáil from five to six years;[2] however, in the absence of support from the Fine Gael opposition, the bill was withdrawn.[3]

The Emergency Powers Act 1939 was in force at the time of the election campaign, and concomitant press censorship affected coverage.

Result

11th Irish general election 23 June 1943[4][5][6][7]
Party Leader Seats ± % of
seats
First Pref
votes
% FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 67 –10 48.6 557,525 41.9 –10.0
Fine Gael W. T. Cosgrave 32 –13 23.2 307,490 23.1 –10.2
Labour Party William Norton 17 +8 12.3 208,812 15.7 +5.7
Clann na Talmhan Michael Donnellan 10 New 7.2 130,452 9.8
Monetary Reform Party Oliver J. Flanagan 1 New 0.7 4,377 0.3
Córas na Poblachta Simon Donnelly 0 New 0 3,892 0.3
Ailtirí na hAiséirghe 0 New 0 3,137 0.2
Independent N/A 11 +4 7.3 116,024 8.7 +4.0
Spoilt votes 16,198
Total 138 0 100 1,347,907 100
Electorate/Turnout 1,816,142 74.2%

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
41.86%
Fine Gael
23.09%
Labour
15.68%
Clann na Talmhan
9.80%
Others
0.86%
Independent
8.71%

Seats summary

Assembly seats
Fianna Fáil
48.55%
Fine Gael
23.19%
Labour
12.32%
Clann na Talmhan
7.25%
Monetary Reform
0.72%
Independent
7.97%

First time TDs

Outgoing TDs

See also

References

  1. de Valera, Éamon (26 May 1943). "The General Election: Announcement by Taoiseach". pp. Vol.90 No.5 p.19 c.562. Retrieved 27 March 2018. the Dáil will rise to–day. ... It is my intention to advise the President so that on the 31st May he may issue his direction for the holding of a general election. His proclamation may be issued on the 31st May. ... the 22nd June [sic] will be the polling day and then the outgoing Dáil, the present Dáil, would have to be dissolved not later than 8th July. The House is aware that it will be dissolved as soon as the Clerk of the Dáil is able to inform us that he has got returns for all the writs.
  2. "Committee on Finance. - Electoral (Duration of Dáil Eireann) Bill, 1943—Second Stage". Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 15 April 1943. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  3. "Committee on Finance. - Electoral (Duration of Dáil Eireann) Bill, 1943—Bill Withdrawn". Dáil Éireann (10th Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 5 May 1943. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  4. "11th Dáil 1943 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  5. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  6. Manning (1972) notes that the Clann na Talmhan figure is often listed in error as 14, due to the inclusion of Independent Farmer TDs in the CnaT total.
  7. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1009-1017 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

Sources

  • Manning, Maurice, 1972. Irish Political Parties: An Introduction. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7171-0536-6
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