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1939 Hungarian parliamentary election

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1939 Hungarian parliamentary election
Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)
← 1935 28–29 May 1939 1944 →

All 260 seats in the Diet
131 seats needed for a majority
Turnout89.72%
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Hungarian Life Pál Teleki 49.49 181 +17
FKGP Tibor Eckhardt 15.44 14 −8
NYKP Ferenc Szálasi 14.39 29 New
MSZDP Árpád Szakasits 3.42 5 −6
KNSZF Károly Maróthy 2.37 3 New
EMNSZP Fidél Pálffy 2.14 4 New
National Front János Salló 1.75 3 New
Civic Freedom Károly Rassay 1.59 5
United Christian János Zichy 1.54 4 −11
MNSZFMP 0.98 3 New
People's Will 0.24 1 New
Far-right independents 2.95 6 New
Independents 0.69 2 −8
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after election
Pál Teleki
MÉP
Pál Teleki
MÉP

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 28 and 29 May 1939.[1] The result was a victory for the Party of Hungarian Life, which won 181 of the 260 seats in Parliament (72 percent of the parliament's seats) and won 49 percent of the popular vote in the election. Pál Teleki remained Prime Minister.[2][3] This was a major breakthrough for the far-right in Hungary;[3] between them, far-right parties were officially credited with 49 seats and 25 percent of the vote.[4]

This was the closest thing to a free election that Hungary had seen at that point. According to historian Stanley G. Payne, the far-right bloc would have almost certainly won more seats had the election been conducted in a truly fair manner, and possibly garnered an "approximately equal" seat count and vote share with the Party of Hungarian Life.[5]

Electoral system

[edit]

The electoral system was changed from that used in 1935. The number of single-member constituencies was reduced from 199 to 135, whilst the number of multi-member constituencies was raised from 11 to 38.[6][7] Additionally, the franchise had been significantly expanded, with all men over 26 and all women over 30 now allowed to vote.[5]

Results

[edit]
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Party of Hungarian Life1,824,57349.49181+17
Independent Smallholders Party569,05415.4414–8
Arrow Cross Party530,40514.3929New
Social Democratic Party of Hungary126,2373.425–6
Christian National Socialist Front87,5332.373New
United Hungarian National Socialist Party78,8062.144New
National Front64,3551.753New
Civic Freedom Party58,6391.595
United Christian Party56,9431.544–11
Unofficial Party of Hungarian Life candidates46,8021.270–6
Hungarian National Socialist Agricultural Labourers' and Workers' Party36,1370.983New
National Reform Party22,1220.600New
Christian National Independence Party14,0240.380New
Hungarian National Socialist Party10,8720.290–2
People's Will Party8,9700.241New
National Smallholders, Craftsmen and Workers Party6,1100.170New
Independent People's Party3,5680.100New
National Agricultural Labourers, Craftsmen and Workers Party3,4530.090New
Christian Opposition2,3840.060–1
Hungarian Racist Party [hu]1,2880.030New
Far-right independents108,9372.956New
Independents25,3910.692–8
Total3,686,603100.0026015
Valid votes3,686,60394.33
Invalid/blank votes221,5195.67
Total votes3,908,122100.00
Registered voters/turnout4,355,77889.72
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

The total number of registered voters was 4,629,493, but only 4,355,778 voters were registered in contested seats.[6]

By constituency type

[edit]
PartySMCs[a]MMCs[b]Total
seats
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Party of Hungarian Life766,69451.331121,057,87948.2469181
Independent Smallholders Party228,57115.301340,48315.531314
Arrow Cross Party192,35612.887338,04915.412229
Social Democratic Party of Hungary12,6300.850113,6075.1855
United Hungarian National Socialist Party54,8873.67323,9191.0914
National Front28,3411.90236,0141.6413
Civic Freedom Party8730.06057,7662.6355
Christian National Socialist Front40,1142.69147,4192.1623
United Christian Party19,9701.34336,9731.6914
Unofficial Party of Hungarian Life candidates46,8023.1300
Hungarian National Socialist Agricultural Labourers' and Workers' Party13,0100.87123,1271.0523
National Reform Party4,4890.30017,6330.8000
Christian National Independence Party14,0240.6400
Hungarian National Socialist Party10,8720.7300
People's Will Party8,9700.6011
National Smallholders, Craftsmen and Workers Party6,1100.4100
Independent People's Party3,5680.1600
National Agricultural Labourers, Craftsmen and Workers Party3,4530.2300
Christian Opposition2,3840.1100
Hungarian Racist Party [hu]1,2880.0900
Far-right independents28,7281.92280,2093.6646
Independents25,3911.7022
Total1,493,549100.001352,193,054100.00125260
Valid votes1,493,54995.492,193,05493.56
Invalid/blank votes70,5814.51150,9386.44
Total votes1,564,130100.002,343,992100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,719,22190.982,636,55788.90
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The number of votes refers to only 125 of the 135 single-member constituencies, as 10 seats were uncontested.[6]
  2. ^ The number of votes refers to 36 of the 38 MMCs as two were uncontested.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p899 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p940
  3. ^ a b Georgi Karasimeonov. Cleavages, parties, and voters: studies from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. Pp. 70.
  4. ^ Payne, Stanley G. (1996). A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Routledge. p. 275. ISBN 0203501322.
  5. ^ a b Payne, p. 275
  6. ^ a b c d Nohlen & Stöver, pp920-921
  7. ^ Nohlen & Stöver, p933