1974 South African general election

The 1974 South African general election, held on 24 April, was called one year earlier than scheduled by Prime Minister John Vorster on 4 February. The House of Assembly was increased from 166 to 171 members. The election was once again won by the National Party, with a slightly increased parliamentary majority.

1974 South African general election
24 April 1974 (1974-04-24)
All 171 seats in the House of Assembly
86 seats needed for a majority
Turnout51.50% ( 22.85pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader B. J. Vorster De Villiers Graaff Colin Eglin
Party National Party United Progressive Party
Last election 118 seats, 54.43% 47 seats, 37.23% 1 seat, 3.43%
Seats won 123 41 7
Seat change 5 6 6
Popular vote 636,586 363,459 58,768
Percentage 57.15% 32.63% 5.28%
Swing 2.72pp 4.60pp 1.85pp
House of Assembly after the election
Prime Minister before election

B. J. Vorster
National Party

 Elected Prime Minister

B. J. Vorster
National Party

South Africa
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The Progressive Party made a major advance, however. In addition to Helen Suzman, re-elected for Houghton, five other members won seats including the party leader Colin Eglin. A seventh member of the caucus was elected at a by-election soon after. The United Party won 41 seats. The election also saw Harry Schwarz, leader of the United Party in the Transvaal, enter Parliament. Schwartz would soon lead a break away from the United Party and would become one of the Apartheid's more prominent opponents in Parliament, first forming the Reform Party and then joining with the Progressive Party to form the Progressive Reform Party in 1975, under the leadership of Colin Eglin.

Nominations

Nominations closed on 18 March. A total of 334 candidates were nominated for 171 seats: National Party 137, United Party 110, Herstigte Nasionale Party 46, Progressive Party 23, Democratic Party 7 and others 11.[1] 46 seats were won unopposed, 32 for the National Party and 14 for the United Party.

House of Assembly results

125 of the 171 seats were contested. There were 2 203 349 registered voters. [2]

Party Leader Candidates Votes %Votes Seats %Seats Previous Change
  National Party John Vorster 105 636 586 57.1% 123 71.9% 118 +5
  United Party De Villiers Graaff 96 363 459 32.7% 41 24.0% 47 −6
  Progressive Party Colin Eglin 22 58 768 5.3% 7 4.1% 1 +6
  Herstigte Nasionale Party Albert Hertzog 48 39 568 3.6% 0.0% 0
  Democratic Party Theo Gerdener 7 10 449 0.9% 0.0% 0
  Others 15 4 990 0.4% 0.0% 0
Total valid 293 1 113 820 100.0% 171 100.0% 166 +5
Spoilt 20 823
Total votes 1 134 643

Results by province
Province National United Progressive Total
Transvaal 62 11 4 76
Cape 37 15 3 56
Natal 5 15 0 20
Orange Free State 14 0 0 14
South-West Africa 5 0 0 5
Total 123 41 7 171
Source:[3]

Senate

The elections for the Senate were held on 30 May 1974 by an electoral college made up of members of the Assembly and various others. The National Party gained one seat at the expense of the United Party, winning 32 of the 44 seats (the United Party held 12 seats).

Seats
  National Party 32 +1
  United Party 12 —1
Total 44

Sources
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 January 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. www.ipu.org
  3. Stadler, A. W. (1975), "The 1974 General Election in South Africa" (PDF), African Affairs, 74 (295): 209–218, doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a096587, JSTOR 721184
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