1974 South African general election

← 1970 24 April 1974 1977 →
169 of the 171 seats in theHouse of Assembly 86 seats needed for a majority
Registered	2,232,623
Turnout	51.87% ( 22.48pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader John Vorster De Villiers Graaff Colin Eglin Party National United Progressive Last election 54.89%, 118 seats 36.94%, 47 seats 3.43%, 1 seat Seats won 122 41 6 Seat change 4 6 5 Popular vote 638,424 363,478 72,479 Percentage 56.14% 31.96% 6.37% Swing 1.25pp 4.98pp 2.94pp
Results by province
Prime Minister before election John Vorster National Elected Prime Minister John Vorster National

General elections were held inSouth Africa on 24 April 1974. They were called one year earlier than scheduled by Prime MinisterJohn Vorster on 4 February. TheHouse of Assembly was increased in size from 166 to 171 members. The election was once again won by the National Party, with a slightly increased parliamentary majority.^[1]

TheProgressive Party made a major advance, however. In addition toHelen Suzman, re-elected forHoughton, five other members won seats including the party leaderColin Eglin. A seventh member of the caucus was elected at aby-election soon after. TheUnited Party won 41 seats. The election also sawHarry Schwarz, leader of the United Party in theTransvaal, enter Parliament. Schwartz would soon lead a break away from the United Party and would become one of the Apartheid's more prominent opponents in Parliament, first forming the Reform Party and then joining with theProgressive Party to form theProgressive Reform Party in 1975, under the leadership ofColin Eglin.

Nominations closed on 18 March. A total of 334 candidates were nominated for 171 seats: National Party 137, United Party 110, Herstigte Nasionale Party 46, Progressive Party 23, Democratic Party 7 and others 11.^[2] 46 seats were won unopposed, 32 for the National Party and 14 for the United Party.

The members of the House of Assembly were elected in single-member constituencies viafirst-past-the-post voting. 125 of the 171 seats were contested.^[3] Voting did not take place in two constituencies,Pinelands andWonderboom, where by-elections were later held; Pinelands was won by theProgressive Party and Wonderboom by the National Party.^[4]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	National Party	638,424	56.14	122	+4
	United Party	363,478	31.96	41	–6
	Progressive Party	72,479	6.37	6	+5
	Herstigte Nasionale Party	44,717	3.93	0	0
	Democratic Party	10,050	0.88	0	New
	Others	5,471	0.48	0	0
	Independents	2,532	0.22	0	0
Vacant				2	–
Total		1,137,151	100.00	171	+5
Valid votes		1,137,151	98.19
Invalid/blank votes		20,923	1.81
Total votes		1,158,074	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,232,623	51.87
Source:[5][6]

The elections for theSenate were held on 30 May 1974 by an electoral college made up of members of the Assembly and various others. The National Party gained one seat at the expense of the United Party, winning 32 of the 44 seats (the United Party held 12 seats).

• General elections in South Africa
• 1974 elections in Africa
• 1974 elections in South Africa
• April 1974 in Africa

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