The 1937 Irish general election to the 9th Dáil was held on Thursday, 1 July, following the dissolution of the 8th Dáil on 14 June by Ceann Comhairle Frank Fahy on the direction of the Executive Council. The general election took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Irish Free State for 138 seats in Dáil Éireann. The number of seats in the Dáil was reduced by 15, from 153 to 138 seats, under the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935.
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138 seats in Dáil Éireann[a] 70 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 76.2% ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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A plebiscite on whether to approve the new Constitution of Ireland was held on the same day. It was approved with the support of 56.5% of voters and would come into operation on 29 December 1937.
The 9th Dáil met at Leinster House on 21 July 1937 to elect the President of the Executive Council and approve the appointment of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. Outgoing president Éamon de Valera was re-elected leading a single-party Fianna Fáil government.
Result
editElection to the 9th Dáil – 1 July 1937[5][6][7] | ||||||||
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Party | Leader | Seats | ± | % of seats |
First pref. votes |
% FPv | ±% | |
Fianna Fáil | Éamon de Valera | 69[a] | –8 | 50.0 | 599,040 | 45.2 | –4.5 | |
Fine Gael | W. T. Cosgrave | 48[b] | –11 | 34.8 | 461,171 | 34.8 | –4.8 | |
Labour | William Norton | 13 | +5 | 9.4 | 135,758 | 10.3 | +4.6 | |
Independent | N/A | 8 | –1 | 5.8 | 128,480 | 9.7 | +4.7 | |
Spoilt votes | 27,824 | — | — | |||||
Total | 138 | –15 | 100 | 1,352,273 | 100 | — | ||
Electorate/Turnout | 1,775,055 | 76.2% | — |
Voting summary
editSeats summary
editChanges in membership
editFirst time TDs
edit- Ernest Benson
- Cormac Breslin
- Patrick Browne
- Thomas Burke
- A. P. Byrne
- Michael Colbert
- Matthew Davis
- John Esmonde
- John Friel
- Archie Heron
- Timothy Linehan
- Gerrard McGowan
- John Munnelly
- Jeremiah Ryan
- Laurence Walsh
Re-elected TDs
editDefeated TDs
edit- William Broderick
- William Browne
- Eamonn Cooney
- Robert Davitt
- Stephen Jordan
- James McGuire
- James Morrisroe
- Patrick Murphy
- Patrick O'Dowd
- Margaret Mary Pearse
- James Reidy
Retiring TDs
editVacancies
edit- Conor Maguire (Resigned on appointment as judge in 1936)
Government formation
editFianna Fáil formed a minority government, the 8th Executive Council of the Irish Free State, with the support of the Labour Party. This became the 1st Government of Ireland on 29 December 1937 on the coming into operation of the Constitution.
Seanad election
editAfter the coming into operation of the Constitution, an election took place under Article 53 of the Constitution for the 2nd Seanad in March 1938.
Notes
edit- ^ a b Including Frank Fahy, returned automatically for Galway East as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 21 of the Constitution, as amended by the Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, and s. 2 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927, adapted under the constituency revision.[1][2][3][4]
- ^ a b c The total number of Fine Gael TDs is compared to the combined total won by Cumann na nGaedheal and the National Centre Party at the previous general election.
References
edit- ^ Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, s. 1: Re-election at general election of outgoing Chairman of Dáil Eireann (No. 6 of 1927, s. 1). Enacted on 19 March 1927. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927, s. 2: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 21 of 1927, s. 2). Enacted on 22 May 1927. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935, s. 4: Constituency of the Ceann Comhairle (No. 5 of 1935, s. 4). Enacted on 27 February 1935. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ "9th Dáil 1937: Galway East". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
- ^ "9th Dáil 1937 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
- ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.