1923 Irish general election
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All 153 seats in Dáil Éireann 77 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 61.3% ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1923 Irish general election was held on Monday, 27 August and was the first general election in the Irish Free State established the previous December.
The members of the 4th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 19 September and the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed by the Governor-General. The election was held shortly after the end of the Irish Civil War in May 1923. Many of the Republican TDs, who represented the losing anti-Treaty side, were still imprisoned during and after the election and had committed to not participating in the Dáil even if elected. Cumann na nGaedheal, the successor to the Pro-Treaty wing of Sinn Féin, won the election and formed the government.[2]
Legal background
It was the first general election fought since the establishment of the Irish Free State and the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. It was contested under the Electoral Act 1923, which increased the seats in the Dáil from 128 to 153. Lax electoral practices were tightened up beforehand by The Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act 1923.[3]
Result
Election to the 4th Dáil – 27 August 1923[4][5][6] | ||||||||
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Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats |
First pref. votes |
% FPv | ±% | |
Cumann na nGaedheal | W. T. Cosgrave | 63[a] | +5 | 41.2 | 410,695 | 39.0 | +0.5 | |
Republican | Éamon de Valera | 44[a] | +8 | 28.7 | 288,794 | 27.4 | +5.6 | |
Farmers' Party | Denis Gorey | 15 | +8 | 9.8 | 127,184 | 12.1 | +4.3 | |
Labour | Thomas Johnson | 14 | −3 | 9.2 | 111,939 | 10.6 | −10.7 | |
Businessmen's Party | N/A | 2 | +2 | 1.3 | 9,648 | 0.9 | −1.4 | |
Cork Progressive Association | N/A | 2[b] | New | 1.3 | 6,588 | 0.6 | New | |
National Democratic | N/A | 0 | New | 0 | 4,968 | 0.5 | New | |
Dublin Trades Council | P. T. Daly | 0 | New | 0 | 3,847 | 0.4 | New | |
Ratepayers' Association | N/A | 0 | ±0 | 0 | 2,620 | 0.2 | −0.2 | |
Town Tenants' Association | N/A | 0 | New | 0 | 1,803 | 0.2 | New | |
Independent politicians in Ireland | N/A | 13 | +4 | 8.5 | 85,869 | 8.1 | +0.3 | |
Spoilt votes | 40,047 | — | — | |||||
Total | 153 | +25 | 100 | 1,094,002 | 100 | — | ||
Electorate/Turnout | 1,786,318 | 61.3% | — |
- Notes
- ^ a b Cumann na nGaedheal's results are compared with those of the Pro-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin in the previous general election. Results given for Republicans here are compared to those won by the Anti-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin in the previous election.
- ^ Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Richard Beamish were elected under the label of Cork Progressive Association, a group associated with the Businessmen's Party.
Most parties made gains, in part because the total number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 25 from 128 to 153.
Voting summary
Seats summary
Government formation
The Republican TDs continued to abstain from the Dáil. Therefore, Cumann na nGaedheal had a majority of seats which were take in the Dáil and formed the 2nd Executive Council of the Irish Free State on 19 September 1923.
First time TDs
- Frank Aiken
- Patrick Baxter
- Dan Breen
- Frank Cahill
- John James Cole
- Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll
- Cornelius Connolly
- Edward Doyle
- Peadar Doyle
- Seán Gibbons
- Kathleen Lynn
- Patrick McFadden
- James Myles
- Michael Shelly
- Paddy Smith
Outgoing TDs
- Joseph Whelehan (Retired)
References
Sources
- Department of Local Government and Public Health (July 1924). Memorandum on the conduct of the general election to Dáil Éireann held on the 27th August, 1923 (PDF). Dublin. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
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Citations
- ^ Sinn Féin members stood under the "Republican" label
- ^ Hopkinson, Michael (1988). Green Against Green: The Irish Civil War. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. p. 262. ISBN 0-7171-3760-0.
Despite the absence of many Sinn Féin candidates and workers in jail, the results were surprising good for the Republicans. Cumann na nGaedheal, the newly formed government party, had 63 candidates elected, compared with 44 Republicans.
- ^ "The Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act 1923". Irish Statute Book. 8 August 1923. Archived from the original on 28 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
- ^ "4th Dáil 1923 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
- ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
- ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.