Delkoran federal election, 1959

Delkoran federal election, 1959

7 June 1959
All 425 seats of the Chamber of Representatives 213 seats needed for a majority
Registered	58,923,446
Turnout	48,317,725 (82%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mette Elvensar Sofia Westergaard Thalbius Sörbengaard Party National Labor Liberal Conservative Leader since 1948 1932 1959 Leader's seat Cybria-Southwest Førelskov-Central Banderhus-Southeast Seats before 110 86 123 Seats won 243 77 54 Seat change 133 9 69 Popular vote 27,057,621 8,213,513 5,795,423 Percentage 56% 17% 12%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Einar Markussen Otto Elkjær Verner Mørk Party Communist Party of Delkora Agrarian National Revival Leader since 1952 1956 1958 Leader's seat Norenstal-South Southern Norvia N/A Seats before 14 68 Did not contest Seats won 23 17 7 Seat change 9 51 7 Popular vote 3,575,948 1,932,509 724,565 Percentage 7.39% 4% 1.5%   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Hávarður Arge Arvid Kruse Party Lebøvian People's Party The Moderates Leader since 1948 1956 Leader's seat Lebøvenland At-Large Cybria-Central Seats before 2 22 Seats won 4 0 Seat change 2 22 Popular vote 356,895 39,978 Percentage 0.74% 0.08%
Chancellor before election Thalbius Sörbengaard Conservative Elected Chancellor Mette Elvensar National Labor

The 1959 Delkoran federal election occurred on 7 June 1959 after a successful motion of no confidence against the government of Thalbius Sörbengaard. The election resulted in a landslide victory for National Labor, which won a rare outright majority. The resulting government led by Chancellor Mette Elvensar began implementation of the New Kingdom reforms, which would radically restructure the Delkoran economy.

The election marked the beginning of the so-called National Labor Hegemony, a term used to describe the period from 1959 to around 1975, when National Labor was dominant in Delkoran politics at the federal, state, and local levels.

Background

The late 1950's were characterized by widespread civil unrest in the major cities as people unsatisfied with the Conservative government's handling of the ongoing economic depression took to the streets in protest. Rioting, combined with targeted bombings carried out by the Labor Underground, prompted Chancellor Hjalmar Madsen to declare a state of emergency in 1958 and order the Federal Police to begin arresting the far-left activists responsible for organizing the protests.

This escalation prompted retaliatory strikes from several labor unions and led the General Labor Confederation of Delkora (LO) to call for Madsen's resignation and threaten a general strike. National Labor leader Mette Elvensar spoke in support of the LO, and continued to promote her party's New Kingdom program as an alternative to Madsen's austerity policies.

Following the assassination of Madsen in February 1959, he was succeeded as chancellor by Thalbius Sörbengaard. Almost immediately upon taking office, Sörbengaard faced calls to dissolve parliament and call an early election. He rejected these demands, largely maintaining the hardline stance of his predecessor. In a televised speech after being sworn in, he vowed to "restore law and order." Still, his support quickly began to erode as the situation in the cities continued to deteriorate.

A turning point came on 1 May, when Home Guard soldiers attempted to disperse Labor Day demonstrations in several major cities at Sörbengaard's direction, leading to hundreds of arrests and injuries. The following day, the LO voted to authorize a general strike.

The militancy of the general strike prompted the swift collapse of Sörbengaard's parliamentary majority. With economic activity virtually ground to a halt by striking workers seizing control of businesses and shipyards, idling factories, and blocking off highways, Sörbengaard was forced to resign after a vote of no confidence on 15 May. Parliament was dissolved later that day and an election was scheduled for 7 June.

Campaign

In contrast to previous federal election campaigns, National Labor devoted considerable resources to the rural southern states, campaigning on a slogan of Hver by, hvert amt, hver arbejder ("Every city, every county, every worker"). In particular, the party focused on the small towns and villages that had historically voted for the Conservatives or Agrarians, but which had been devastated by the depression. Elvensar held a series of town halls in these areas that, on account of her personal charm and frankness, helped endear the party to rural voters. Elvensar spoke at major rallies in Tordenhelm, Grafholmen, and Izenhoth the week before the election, all attracting crowds of over 25,000.

While Elvensar campaigned in the south, deputy National Labor leader Geirbjørn Feldengaard worked to mobilize the party's traditional urban base in the north, walking picket lines with striking steel workers in Halmodryn and Fjødonor and holding rallies in Norenstal, Tybenhoth, and Abenvard.

The Liberal Party, led by Sofia Westergaard, who had a close working relationship with Elvensar, campaigned in coordination with National Labor and announced early on that it would support a National Labor government if necessary. The party focused most of its efforts on suburban areas, where National Labor was weak and where it could pick up seats from the Conservatives. Westergaard and Elvensar made a number of notable appearances together throughout the campaign.

The Conservatives, Agrarians, and Moderates largely focused on defending their traditional strongholds, with Sörbengaard privately acknowledging that the cities were a lost cause. Sörbengaard himself spent most of his time campaigning in Banderhus, hoping to turn out the Conservative base in large numbers.

A single party leaders' debate was hosted on May 31 on the campus of Gothendral University, featuring Elvensar, Westergaard, Sörbengaard, and Markussen. It resulted in negative publicity for Sörbengaard, who struggled to defend his government's economic policies and was attacked over his heavy-handed response to the Labor Day rallies. Markussen sought to use the debate to distinguish the Communist Party of Delkora from National Labor, criticizing the New Kingdom program for not going far enough.

A notable moment during the debate involved a question posed to both Elvensar and Markussen about the Labor Underground; while Elvensar strongly disavowed the organization, Markussen gave an ambiguous answer that was widely criticized within the press.

Opinion polling

Numerous polls were conducted in the run-up to the election, all predicting a large seat gain for National Labor and showing that a large plurality of voters preferred Elvensar to be the next chancellor. Westergaard's numbers remained high on account of her strong personal popularity, and she consistently remained a distant second behind Elvensar, while Sörbengaard's numbers continually declined throughout the campaign.

Preferred Chancellor

Date(s)	Polling organization	Sample size	Elvensar	Westergaard	Sörbengaard	Markussen	Elkjær	Kruse	Arge	Other
May 16-18	University of Norenstal	2,551	42.5%	25.1%	15.1%	10.6%	3.2%	1.4%	0.1%	2%
May 24-27	Ibsen Gruppe	3,502	45.6%	24.2%	14.2%	12.7%	2.3%	0.3%	>0.1%	1.6%
June 1-2	Eracuran Policy Institute	2,708	50.7%	23.9%	10.8%	13.9%	1.4%	0.2%	>0.1%	>0.1%

Party preference

Date(s)	Polling organization	Sample size	National Labor	Liberal	Conservative	Communist	Agrarian	Moderate	Lebøvian	Other
May 16-18	University of Norenstal	2,551	39.6%	20.3%	16.4%	14.9%	3.4%	1.1%	0.1%	4.2%
May 24-27	Ibsen Gruppe	3,502	43.2%	16.4%	14.5%	13.7%	2.3%	0.7%	>0.1%	3.6%
June 1-2	Eracuran Policy Institute	2,708	46.2%	19.7%	12.3%	16.9%	5.2%	>0.1%	>0.1%	>0.1%

Results

Summary of the 7 June 1959 Delkoran federal election results

Party		Votes			Seats
		#	%	±	#	±
	National Labor (A)	27,057,621	56.00%	≠	243	+133
	Liberal Party (L)	8,213,513	17.00%	≠	77	-9
	Conservative Party (K)	5,795,423	12.00%	≠	54	-69
	Communist Party of Delkora (C)	3,575,948	7.39%	≠	23	+9
	Agrarian Party (B)	1,932,509	4.00%	≠	17	-51
	National Revival (Ɲ)	724,565	1.50%	≠	7	+7
	Lebøvian People's Party (Ð)	356,895	0.74%	≠	4	+2
	Free Republicans (Y)	298,594	0.62%	≠	0	0
	United Leftist Front (V)	246,283	0.51%	≠	0	0
	Traditionalist League (N)	73,294	0.15%	≠	0	0
	The Moderates (M)	39,978	0.08%	≠	0	-22
	Independent lists	3,102	>0.01%	≠	0	0
Totals		48,317,725	100%	–	425	±0
Registered voters/turnout		58,923,446	82.00%	+?	–	–
Source: Federal Electoral Commission

Analysis

Most news outlets had called the election in favor of National Labor early on election night based on exit polls which suggested the party was headed toward a majority. Early returns from the southern states appeared to confirm this, as the Conservatives trailed National Labor and the Liberals even in rural areas, while the Agrarians were virtually wiped out in many counties, and the Moderates failed to win any seats. This, combined with a strong early showing by the Liberals in northern suburban areas, resulted in a severe deficit that the Conservatives were unable to overcome.

Shortly before midnight, with the Conservatives trailing National Labor in Banderhus, Sörbengaard delivered a brief concession speech outside Conservative Party headquarters in Norenstal. An hour later, Elvensar gave a speech before a crowd of several hundred National Labor supporters outside the LO office. Results from the northern states continued to filter in throughout the night and early the next morning, with the Federal Electoral Commission certifying the final results just after noon the following day.

As expected, National Labor made history by becoming the first party since the introduction of proportional representation in 1884 to win an independent majority. Additionally, it became the first and currently only party to have ever won the popular vote in every state in a federal election. Despite losing a number of seats, the Liberals performed better than expected, which is often attributed to Westergaard's personal popularity. The Conservatives suffered severe losses in almost every constituency.