Misplaced Pages

1951 Irish general election

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from Irish general election, 1951) Election to the 14th Dáil

1951 Irish general election
← 1948 30 May 1951 1954 →
← outgoing memberselected members →
147 seats in Dáil Éireann
74 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.3% Increase1.1 pp
  First party Second party Third party
  De Valera, 1939 (cropped).jpg Gen. Richard Mulcahy cropped.jpg William Norton, circa 1945.png
Leader Éamon de Valera Richard Mulcahy William Norton
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour
Leader since 26 March 1926 1944 1932
Leader's seat Clare Tipperary South Kildare
Last election 68 seats, 41.9% 31 seats, 19.8% 14 seats, 11.3%
(Nat. Lab.: 5 seats, 2.6%)
Seats won 69 40 16
Seat change Increase1 Increase9 Decrease3
Popular vote 616,212 349,922 151,828
Percentage 46.3% 25.8% 11.4%
Swing Increase4.4 pp Increase6.0 pp Increase0.1 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
  CnaT Seán MacBride circa 1947.jpg
Leader Joseph Blowick Seán MacBride
Party Clann na Talmhan Clann na Poblachta
Leader since 1944 1946
Leader's seat Mayo South Dublin South-West
Last election 10 seats, 5.5% 10 seats, 13.3%
Seats won 6 2
Seat change Decrease4 Decrease8
Popular vote 38,872 54,210
Percentage 2.9% 4.1%
Swing Decrease2.6 pp Decrease9.2 pp
Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election

John A. Costello
Fine Gael

Taoiseach after election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

The 1951 Irish general election to the 14th Dáil was held on Wednesday, 30 May following the dissolution of the 13th Dáil on 7 May by President Seán T. O'Kelly on the request of Taoiseach John A. Costello. The general election took place in 40 Dáil constituencies throughout Ireland for 147 seats in Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas.

This election was the first election since the declaration of the Republic of Ireland on 18 April 1949 under the terms of The Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which forced Ireland's withdrawal from the British Commonwealth.

The 14th Dáil met at Leinster House on 13 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by the president and to approve the appointment of a new government of Ireland. Costello failed to secure a majority, and Éamon de Valera was appointed Taoiseach, forming the 6th government of Ireland, a single-party minority Fianna Fáil government.

Campaign

Taoiseach John A. Costello inspects ranks of the Gárda Síochána in Glenties during the 1951 campaign

The 1951 general election was caused by a number of crises within the first inter-party government, most notably the Mother and Child Scheme. While the affair – which saw the resignation of the Minister for Health, Noël Browne – was not entirely to blame for the collapse of the government, it added to the disagreement between the various political parties. There were other problems facing the country, such as rising prices and balance-of-payments problems. Two farmer TDs withdrew their support for the government because of rising milk prices.

The coalition parties fought the general election on their record over the previous three years, while Fianna Fáil argued strongly against coalition governments.

Result

Election to the 14th Dáil – 30 May 1951
Party Leader Seats ± % of
seats 		First pref.
votes 		% FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 69 +1 46.9 616,212 46.3 +4.4
Fine Gael Richard Mulcahy 40 +9 27.2 349,922 25.8 +6.0
Labour William Norton 16 –3 10.9 151,828 11.4 +2.7
Clann na Talmhan Joseph Blowick 6 –1 4.1 38,872 2.9 –2.7
Clann na Poblachta Seán MacBride 2 –8 1.4 54,210 4.1 –9.1
Irish Workers' League Michael O'Riordan 0 New 0 295 0.0 –
Independent N/A 14 +3 9.5 127,234 9.6 +2.4
Spoilt votes 12,043 — —
Total 147 0 100 1,350,616 100 —
Electorate/Turnout 1,785,144 75.7 —

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil   46.3%
Fine Gael   25.8%
Labour   11.4%
Clann na Poblachta   4.1%
Clann na Talmhan   2.9%
Others   0.0%
Independent   9.6%

Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil   46.9%
Fine Gael   27.2%
Labour   10.9%
Clann na Talmhan   4.1%
Clann na Poblachta   1.4%
Independent   9.5%

Government formation

The election result was inconclusive. Fianna Fáil's support increased by 61,000 votes; however, the party only gained one additional seat. The coalition parties had mixed fortunes. Fine Gael were the big winners increasing to forty seats. The Labour Party had reunited in 1950, when the National Labour Party had merged back into the party but in spite of this, the party lost seats. Clann na Poblachta was the big loser of the election. Three years earlier the party had been a big political threat but now the party was shattered.

Fianna Fáil did not have enough seats to govern alone. However, the party was able to form a minority government with the support of Noël Browne, the sacked Minister for Health, and other Independent deputies.

Changes in membership

First-time TDs

Re-elected TDs

Defeated TDs

Retiring TDs

Vacancies

Seanad election

The Dáil election was followed by an election to the 7th Seanad.

Notes

  1. ^ Including Frank Fahy (FF), returned automatically for Galway South as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 16.6 of the Constitution and the Electoral (Chairman of Dáil Éireann) Act 1937.
  2. ^ The Labour Party and the National Labour Party had reunited since the previous election. The figures for the Labour Party are compared to the two parties' combined totals in the previous election.

References

  1. Electoral (Chairman of Dáil Éireann) Act 1937, s. 3: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 25 of 1937, s. 3). Enacted on 1 November 1937. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  2. "14th Dáil 1951: Galway South". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  3. "14th Dáil 1951 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  4. "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
  5. Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.
Republic of Ireland Elections and referendums in the Republic of Ireland
Dáil elections
Seanad elections
Presidential elections
European elections
Local elections
Referendums
Categories: