Ceylonese parliamentary election, 1952
2nd Ceylonese parliamentary election
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General elections were held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1952.
Background
Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake died in March 1952, and was succeeded by his son, Dudley. The national wave of mourning for Ceylon's first prime minister greatly boosted the UNP's fortunes.
The 1952 election was the first contested by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had broken away from the UNP on a platform of Sinhala nationalism, and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party), which split from the All Ceylon Tamil Congress over joining the UNP government.
Results
Because the estate Tamils had been stripped of their citizenship by the Senanayake government, the Ceylon Indian Congress, which most of them had supported, was eliminated from Parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party lost seats. The UNP won a majority, mainly at the cost of the CIC and the LSSP.
Summary of the 1952 Ceylonese parliamentary election[1]
Party | Candidates | Votes | % | Seats |
| United National Party | 81 | 1,026,005 | 44.08% | 54 |
| Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 48 | 361,250 | 15.52% | 9 |
| Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 39 | 305,133 | 13.11% | 9 |
| Communist Party of Ceylon / Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 19 | 134,528 | 5.78% | 4 |
| All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 7 | 64,512 | 2.77% | 4 |
| Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi | 7 | 45,331 | 1.95% | 2 |
| Ceylon Labour Party | 5 | 27,096 | 1.16% | 1 |
| Republican Party | 9 | 33,001 | 1.42% | 0 |
| Buddhist Republican Party | 3 | 3,987 | 0.17% | 0 |
| Independents | 88 | 326,783 | 14.04% | 12 |
Valid Votes | 306 | 2,327,626 | 100.00% | 95 |
Rejected Votes | | |
Total Votes Polled | | |
Total Electors Polled[lower-alpha 1] | 2,114,615 | |
Registered Electors | 2,990,912 | |
Turnout | 70.70% | |
Notes
- ↑ Total electors polled is less than total votes polled due to multiple-member seats where electors can cast more than one vote.
References