1961 South African general election
General elections were held in South Africa on 18 October 1961. They were the first general elections after South Africa became a republic following the 1960 South African referendum. The National Party under H. F. Verwoerd won a majority in the House of Assembly.
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All 156 general roll seats in the House of Assembly 79 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 1,811,160 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 44.55% ( 29.81pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results by province | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Politics of South Africa |
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South Africa portal
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The National Union Party - led by Japie Basson and ex-Chief Justice Henry Allan Fagan in alliance with the United Party - had been formed as a "bridge" to the United Party by disgrunted ex-Nationalists who were unhappy with Verwoerd's leadership, aiming at the National, Afrikaner electorate. With the exception of the constituency of Bezuidenhout, won by Basson in a landslide, the party failed and later merged with the United Party.
The elections also saw the first general election appearance of the liberal Progressive Party, which had broken away from the United Party in 1959. The new party retained one MP, in the form of Helen Suzman. She was to remain its sole parliamentary representative until 1974.