1938 Irish general election
← 1937 17 June 1938 1943 →
137 of 138 seats in Dáil Éireann
70 seats needed for a majority
Turnout76.7% Increase 0.5pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Éamon de Valera W. T. Cosgrave William Norton
Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Labour
Leader since 26 March 1926 September 1934 19 July 1932
Leader's seat Clare Cork Borough Kildare
Last election 69 seats, 45.2% 48 seats, 34.8% 13 seats, 10.3%
Seats won 77 45 9
Seat change Increase8 Decrease3 Decrease4
Popular vote 667,996 428,633 128,945
Percentage 51.9% 33.3% 10.0%
Swing Increase6.7% Decrease1.5% Decrease0.3%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
Taoiseach before election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

Taoiseach after election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

The 1938 Irish general election was held on 17 June 1938. The 138 newly elected members of the 10th Dáil assembled on 30 June when the new Taoiseach and government were appointed. Fianna Fáil retained power, and won the first overall majority in the history of the State. It was a snap election, the proximate cause being the government's loss of an opposition motion recommending use of arbitration to resolve Civil Service labour disputes.[1]

The general election took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 138 seats in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann.

Result

10th Irish general election – 17 June 1938[2][3][4]
Party Leader Seats ± % of
seats 		First Pref
votes 		% FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 77 +8 55.8 667,996 51.9 +6.7
Fine Gael W. T. Cosgrave 45 –3 32.6 428,633 33.3 –1.5
Labour William Norton 9 –4 6.5 128,945 10.0 –0.3
Independent N/A 7 –1 5.1 60,685 4.7 –5.0
Spoilt votes 15,811 — —
Total 138 0 100 1,302,070 100 —
Electorate/Turnout 1,770,422 76.7% —

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
 
 51.93%
Fine Gael
 
 33.32%
Labour
 
 10.02%
Independent
 
 4.72%

Seats summary

Assembly seats
Fianna Fáil
 
 55.80%
Fine Gael
 
 32.61%
Labour
 
 6.52%
Independent
 
 5.07%

First time TDs

Re-elected TDs

Outgoing TDs

See also

References

  1. ^ "To Caesar". The Irish Times. 28 May 1938. p. 8. Retrieved 30 March 2020.; "Private Deputies' Business — Civil Service and Arbitration". Dáil Éireann (9th Dáil) debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. 25 May 1938. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  2. ^ "10th Dáil 1938 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  3. ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  4. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1009-1017 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
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