Irish general election, September 1927

Irish general election, September 1927
Republic of Ireland
15 September 1927
152 of 153 seats in Dáil Éireann
77 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout 69.0%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader W. T. Cosgrave Éamon de Valera Thomas Johnson
Party Cumann na nGaedheal Fianna Fáil Labour Party
Leader since April 1923 26 March 1926 1922
Leader's seat Cork Borough Clare Dublin County
(defeated)
Last election 46 seats, 27.4% 44 seats, 26.2% 22 seats, 12.6%
Seats before 47 43 22
Seats won 61 57 13
Seat change Increase14 Increase14 Decrease9
Percentage 38.6% 35.2% 9.1%
Swing Increase11.2% Increase9.0% Decrease3.5%
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Michael Heffernan William Redmond
Party Farmers' Party National League Party
Leader since 1927 1926
Leader's seat Tipperary Waterford
Last election 11 seats, 8.9% 8 seats, 7.3%
Seats before 11 8
Seats won 6 2
Seat change Decrease5 Decrease6
Percentage 6.4% 1.6%
Swing Decrease2.5% Decrease5.7%

Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
President of the Executive Council before election

W. T. Cosgrave
Cumann na nGaedheal

 Subsequent President of the Executive Council

W. T. Cosgrave
Cumann na nGaedheal

The Irish general election of September 1927 was held on 15 September 1927. The newly elected members of the 6th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 11 October when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed. The result was a Cumann na nGaedheal minority government.

Campaign

The second general election of 1927 was caused by the uncertain political arithmetic within Dáil Éireann. Only three votes separated the two largest parties, Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fáil, and the government was very unstable. When Fianna Fáil decided to enter the Dáil in August it gave its support to the Labour Party's motion of no confidence in the Cumann na nGaedheal government and to replace it with a Labour-led coalition with Labour leader Thomas Johnson as President of the Executive Council. The Labour Party was supported by Fianna Fáil and the National League Party. On the other hand, the Cumann na nGaedheal government had the backing of the Farmers' Party and most of the Independent TDs. When the vote was taken, John Jinks, a National League TD failed to attend. As a result, the vote was a dead heat and the Ceann Comhairle voted with the government. The motion failed.

W. T. Cosgrave realised that this situation could not continue and a general election was called in the hope of providing a clear result. Cumann na nGaedheal fought the election on its record in government so far. Fianna Fáil was the new party on the political scene with new policies and the promise of self-sufficiency. The Labour Party had done well on its last outing and was hoping, and was predicted, to win extra seats, in spite of internal divisions. The Farmers' Party represented the needs of agricultural labourers. Sinn Féin had been reduced by the founding of Fianna Fáil from 47 to 5 seats in the first 1927 election, and did not contest a single seat this time due to a lack of financial assets.

Result

6th Irish general election – 15 September 1927[1][2][3]
Party Leader Seats ± % of
seats 		First Pref
votes 		% FPv ±%
Cumann na nGaedheal W. T. Cosgrave 62 +15 40.5 453,028 38.7 +11.3
Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 57 +13 37.3 411,777 35.2 +9.1
Labour Party Thomas Johnson 13 –9 8.5 106,184 9.1 –3.4
Farmers' Party Michael Heffernan 6 –5 3.9 74,626 6.4 –2.5
National League Party William Redmond 2 –6 1.3 18,990 1.6 –5.7
Irish Worker League James Larkin 1 New 0.7 12,473 1.1 –
Town Tenants' Association 0 0 832 0.1 0
Independent N/A 12 –4 7.8 92,959 7.9 –5.5
Spoilt votes 21,886 — —
Total 153 0 100 1,192,755 100 —
Electorate/Turnout 1,730,177 69.0% —

Following the general election Cumann na nGaedheal were able to form a minority government with the support of the Farmers' Party and other Independent TDs. The Labour Party leader, Thomas Johnson, lost his seat in the election and subsequently retired from politics.

First time TDs

Outgoing TDs

See also

References

  1. ↑ "6th Dáil September 1927 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  2. ↑ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  3. ↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1009-1017 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
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