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1974 South African general election

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Field	Value
election_name	1974 South African general election
country	South Africa
flag_year	1928
type	Parliamentary
previous_election	1970 South African general election
previous_year	1970
election_date	24 April 1974
next_election	1977 South African general election
next_year	1977
seats_for_election	169 of the 171 seats in the House of Assembly
majority_seats	86
registered	2,232,623
turnout	51.87% ( 22.48pp)
image_size	130x130px
image1	John Vorster.jpg
leader1	John Vorster
party1	National Party (South Africa)
last_election1	54.89%, 118 seats
seats1	122
seat_change1	4
popular_vote1	638,424
percentage1	56.14%
swing1	1.25pp
image2	Sir De Villiers Graaff 1960.jpg
leader2	De Villiers Graaff
party2	United Party (South Africa)
last_election2	36.94%, 47 seats
seats2	41
seat_change2	6
popular_vote2	363,478
percentage2	31.96%
swing2	4.98pp
image3	Colin Eglin (cropped).jpg
leader3	Colin Eglin
party3	Progressive Party (South Africa)
last_election3	3.43%, 1 seat
seats3	6
seat_change3	5
popular_vote3	72,479
percentage3	6.37%
swing3	2.94pp
title	Prime Minister
before_election	John Vorster
before_party	National Party (South Africa)
after_election	John Vorster
after_party	National Party (South Africa)
map_image	South Africa Election 1974.png
map_caption	Results by province

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

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. 46 seats were won unopposed, 32 for the National Party and 14 for the United Party.

Results

House of Assembly

The members of the House of Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies via first-past-the-post voting. 125 of the 171 seats were contested. Voting did not take place in two constituencies, Pinelands and Wonderboom, where by-elections were later held; Pinelands was won by the Progressive Party and Wonderboom by the National Party.

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: Stadler

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).

References

(26 April 1974). "Vorstwer widens margin in South Africa".
"General South African History Timeline: 1970s".
"South Africa".
Terry Eksteen. (1982). "The Decline of the United Party 1970–1977".
(17 May 1974). "General Election of Members of the House of Assembly". [[Government Gazette of South Africa.
(1985). "South Africa: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa".
(1975). "The 1974 General Election in South Africa". African Affairs.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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