1920 South African general election

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 1921 →
All 134 seats in the House of Assembly 68 seats needed for a majority
Registered	421,790
Turnout	66.94% ( 4.63pp)
First party Second party   Leader J. B. M. Hertzog Jan Smuts Party National South African Last election 29.41%, 27 seats 36.67%, 54 seats Seats won 43 41 Seat change 16 13 Popular vote 90,512 101,227 Percentage 32.62% 36.48% Swing 3.21pp 0.19pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Thomas Smartt Frederic Creswell Party Unionist Labour Last election 19.42%, 39 seats 9.63%, 4 seats Seats won 25 21 Seat change 14 17 Popular vote 38,946 40,639 Percentage 14.03% 14.65% Swing 5.39pp 5.01pp
Results by province
Prime Minister before election Jan Smuts South African Elected Prime Minister Jan Smuts South African

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 divisions

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)

Results

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.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	South African Party	101,227	36.48	41	–13
	National Party	90,512	32.62	43	+16
	Labour Party	40,639	14.65	21	+17
	Unionist Party	38,946	14.03	25	–14
	Socialist League	202	0.07	0	0
	Independent	5,968	2.15	3	–3
Vacant				1	–
Total		277,494	100.00	134	+4
Valid votes		277,494	98.28
Invalid/blank votes		4,867	1.72
Total votes		282,361	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		421,790	66.94
Source: Potgieter[3]

References

• South Africa 1982: Official Yearbook of the Republic of South Africa, published by Chris van Rensburg Publications

1. "The South African General Election was held on March 10th". The Spectator. London. 20 March 1920. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
2. South Africa 1982, page 129
3. Dirk J. Potgieter (1971) Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Volume 4, p. 272