1926 Inglaterran Election

1926 Inglaterran Election

30 May 1926
All 350 seats in the General Assembly 175 seats needed for a majority
Registered	64,235,812 (3.3 pp)
Turnout	49,385,758 (77.1%) ( 1.1 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Candidate Erik van Vries Gustaf Anders Hermen Klaassen Party Confederalist Social Republican Reformist Leader since 1924 1926 1925 Leader's seat Harkzel Påskebyen Harkzel Seats before 106 152 25 Seats won 140 118 36 Popular vote 19,655,532 16,494,843 4,987,962 Percentage 39.8% 33.4% 10.1% Swing 9.7% 9.7% 3.0%   Fourth party Fifth party   Candidate Linus Lindgren Karl Hoeven Party Free Democratic Communist Leader since 1925 1923 Leader's seat Fälklan Province Orcakust Seats before 39 19 Seats won 32 22 Popular vote 4,494,104 Percentage 9.1% 6.1% Swing 2.1% 0.8%
Chancellor before election Micael Bydén Social Republican Elected Chancellor Erik van Vries Confederalist

The 1926 Inglaterran Election was held on Sunday, 30 May 1926. It was the fifth election since Inglaterra's independence in 1899 and the first snap election. All 350 seats in the Inglaterran General Assembly were up for election in a proportional election with a minimum threshold of 5% to enter the Assembly.

The election saw the previous coalition between the Social Republicans and Free Democrats collapse after the death of Jens Larsson. After the removal of Larsson's replacement, Micael Bydén, a snap election was triggered to fill out the rest of the term. Erik van Vries led the Confederal Party to victory, with a joint coalition with the Reformists giving the majority needed to govern the country. The Confederal-Reformist majority of 176 seats remains one of the thinnest majorities in Inglaterran legislative politics.

Background

Jens Larsson was elected at the head of a surging Social Republican party in 1923, but died of a heart attack on 9 August 1925. His successor, former Chief of Staff Micael Bydén, was wildly unpopular and perceived as corrupt. Bydén was removed from office after the Free Democrats pulled out of the coalition and voted against him in a vote of no confidence. This resulted in a snap election being scheduled for the following May.

With the death of the only popular leader of the Social Republicans in Jens Larsson and the unpopularity of Micael Bydén, many expected a rout by the Confederalists. However, Gustaf Anders ran an aggressive campaign that distanced himself from Bydén. This resulted in a near upset of the Confederalists, who won by a very thin margin. The small rise in the Communist vote was the only time the Communist share of the vote rose so little.