1904 Cape Colony parliamentary election

January & February 1904

All 95 seats in the Assembly
48 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Leander Starr Jameson James Tennant Molteno
Party Progressive South African Party
Leader's seat Grahamstown Somerset East
Seats won 50 42
Seat change Increase6

Green - Cape Progressive Party
Blue - South African Party
Grey - Independent

Prime Minister before election

Gordon Sprigg
Independent Progressive

Elected Prime Minister

Leander Starr Jameson
Progressive

Elections for the House of Assembly were held in Cape Colony in 1904. The election was a victory for the Progressives under Leander Starr Jameson, who had first achieved prominence for his role in the ill-fated Jameson Raid.[1]

The incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Sprigg had been elected in 1898 as a Progressive, however the Progressives had been wracked by internal divisions. Whilst most of the party had been able to reconcile under Jameson, Sprigg and his Commissioner of Public Works Arthur Douglass, had been forced to contest the election as Independent Progressives. Both of them would lose their seats to Progressive candidates. The election also saw former Prime Minister William Schreiner lose his seat.[2][3] Sprigg would resign as Prime Minister some days after the last results were announced, and was succeeded by Jameson.[4] Following the election James Tennant Molteno would be replaced by John X. Merriman as leader of the South African Party.

Thirteen constituencies were uncontested.[5] Following the election of 95 members, Act 4 was passed, which gave a further twelve seats to the House. These were elected through by-elections in the same year.[5]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Progressive Party50+6
South African Party42New
IndependentSouth African Party alliance2
Pro-SAP independent1
Labour Party0New
Other parties0
Total95+16
Total votes83,801
Registered voters/turnout135,17761.99
Source: Smith

Statistics

Constituency Seats Registered voters Votes available Votes cast
Albany22,0364,0723,091
Albert21,8243,6482,324
Aliwal North21,4522,9042,271
Barkly West21,9533,9062,246
Beaufort West22,1244,2482,696
Caledon22,4784,9563,469
Cape Town717,131119,91743,108
Cathcart11,1711,171814
Clanwilliam21,7133,426Unopposed
Colesberg22,1844,3683,062
Cradock22,0254,050Unopposed
East London34,69714,0915,036
Fort Beaufort21,6593,3182,516
George44,00216,00810,593
Graaff-Reinet22,4174,8342,727
Graham's Town21,8373,6741,834
Griqualand East21,9893,978Unopposed
Humansdorp11,3951,395Unopposed
Jansenville21,9373,874Unopposed
Kimberley46,40425,61612,683
King William's Town32,8008,4003,449
Malmesbury22,4434,886Unopposed
Mafeking1758758Unopposed
Middelburg11,4841,484Unopposed
Namaqualand22,0164,0323,133
Oudtshoorn33,0609,1804,313
Paarl32,8648,5926,890
Piquetberg21,5823,1642,332
Prieska11,0291,029736
Port Elizabeth510,95154,75522,049
Queen's Town33,61710,8515,514
Richmond21,9223,8441,977
Riversdale22,2094,418Unopposed
Simon's Town11,6341,6341,104
Somerset East22,5775,1544,300
Stellenbosch22,1954,3903,559
Swellendam22,6955,3903,605
Tembuland22,7895,5784,079
Uitenhage33,0809,2405,712
Victoria East27791,5581,029
Victoria West22,3344,668Unopposed
Vryburg29441,888Unopposed
Wodehouse22,0014,0022,663
Woodstock36,44219,3268,176
Worcester33,63010,890Unopposed
Wynberg34,91414,7424,079
Total107135,177437,307187,169
Source: Statistical register of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope

References

  1. John Charrington Smith, Alan (1980). General Elections in the Cape Colony: 1898-1908 (PDF). University of Cape Town.
  2. Wills, Walter H. (2006). The Anglo-African Who's Who and Biographical Sketchbook, 1907. Jeppestown Press. p. 325. ISBN 9780955393631.
  3. Switzer, Les (1993). Power and Resistance in an African Society: The Ciskei Xhosa and the Making of South Africa. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 159. ISBN 9780199296637.
  4. Garner, James Wilford (1904). "Record of Political Events". Political Science Quarterly. 19 (2): 366. doi:10.2307/2140296. ISSN 0032-3195.
  5. 1 2 Statistical register of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, piv
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.