General elections were held in South Africa on 10 March 1920 to elect the 134 members of the House of Assembly.[1] This was for the third Union Parliament.
The National Party (NP) won the largest number of seats, but not a majority. The South African Party (SAP) minority government continued in office, with Unionist Party support in Parliament. This was the third successive term of SAP government, but only the second period with General Jan Smuts as Prime Minister. The first SAP premier (General Louis Botha) had died in office in 1919, during the previous Parliament.
The National Party became the official opposition for the first time.
Delimitation of electoral divisionsedit
The South Africa Act 1909 had provided for a delimitation commission to define the boundaries for each electoral division. The representation by province, under the third delimitation report of 1919, is set out in the table below. The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous (1913) delimitation. If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged.[2]
Provinces
Cape
Natal
Orange Free State
Transvaal
Total
Divisions
51
17
17
49 (45)
134 (130)
Resultsedit
The vote totals in the table below may not give a complete picture of the balance of political opinion, because of unopposed elections (where no votes were cast) and because contested seats may not have been fought by a candidate from all major parties.
^Dirk J. Potgieter (1971) Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Volume 4, p. 272
March 14, 2024
1920, south, african, general, election, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, sc. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 1920 South African general election news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message General elections were held in South Africa on 10 March 1920 to elect the 134 members of the House of Assembly 1 This was for the third Union Parliament 1920 South African general election 1915 10 March 1920 1920 03 10 1921 All 134 seats in the House of Assembly68 seats needed for a majorityTurnout66 94 4 63pp First party Second party Leader J B M Hertzog Jan SmutsParty National South AfricanLast election 29 41 27 seats 36 67 54 seatsSeats won 43 41Seat change 16 13Popular vote 90 512 101 227Percentage 32 62 36 48 Swing 3 21pp 0 19pp Third party Fourth party Leader Thomas Smartt F H P CreswellParty Unionist LabourLast election 19 42 39 seats 9 63 4 seatsSeats won 25 21Seat change 14 17Popular vote 38 946 40 639Percentage 14 03 14 65 Swing 5 39pp 5 01ppResults by provincePrime Minister before electionJan SmutsSouth African Elected Prime Minister Jan SmutsSouth AfricanThe National Party NP won the largest number of seats but not a majority The South African Party SAP minority government continued in office with Unionist Party support in Parliament This was the third successive term of SAP government but only the second period with General Jan Smuts as Prime Minister The first SAP premier General Louis Botha had died in office in 1919 during the previous Parliament The National Party became the official opposition for the first time Delimitation of electoral divisions editThe South Africa Act 1909 had provided for a delimitation commission to define the boundaries for each electoral division The representation by province under the third delimitation report of 1919 is set out in the table below The figures in brackets are the number of electoral divisions in the previous 1913 delimitation If there is no figure in brackets then the number was unchanged 2 Provinces Cape Natal Orange Free State Transvaal TotalDivisions 51 17 17 49 45 134 130 Results editThe vote totals in the table below may not give a complete picture of the balance of political opinion because of unopposed elections where no votes were cast and because contested seats may not have been fought by a candidate from all major parties nbsp PartyVotes Seats South African Party101 22736 4841 13National Party90 51232 6243 16Labour Party40 63914 6521 17Unionist Party38 94614 0325 14Socialist League2020 0700Independent5 9682 153 3Vacant1 Total277 494100 00134 4Valid votes277 49498 28Invalid blank votes4 8671 72Total votes282 361100 00Registered voters turnout421 79066 94Source Potgieter 3 References editSouth Africa 1982 Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa published by Chris van Rensburg Publications The South African General Election was held on March 10th The Spectator London 20 March 1920 Retrieved 21 February 2016 South Africa 1982 page 129 Dirk J Potgieter 1971 Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa Volume 4 p 272 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1920 South African general election amp oldid 1176723543, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
