1951 Greek legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 9 September 1951.[1] They resulted in an ambivalent outcome, consisting a narrow and pyrrhic, as proven later, victory for the ruling center-liberal parties of Sophoklis Venizelos and Nikolaos Plastiras.

1951 Greek legislative election

← 1950 9 September 1951 1952 →

All 258 seats in the Hellenic Parliament
130 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Alexandros Papagos Nikolaos Plastiras
Party Greek Rally EPEK
Last election 16.45%, 45 seats
Seats won 114 74
Seat change New Increase 29
Popular vote 624,316 401,379
Percentage 36.53% 23.49%
Swing New Increase7.04pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Sofoklis Venizelos Ioannis Passalidis
Party Liberal EDA
Last election 17.24%, 56 seats
Seats won 57 10
Seat change Increase 1 New
Popular vote 325,390 180,640
Percentage 19.04% 10.57%
Swing Increase1.80pp New

Prime Minister before election

Sofoklis Venizelos
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Nikolaos Plastiras
EPEK

Background

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After the Greek elections of 1950, when the divided centrist parties had a clear majority in the Parliament political instability was the main characteristic of the political life in Greece. The subsequent centre-liberal governments of Sophoklis Venizelos, Nikolaos Plastiras and Georgios Papandreou did not manage to ensure and enforce stability. As a result, Nikolaos Plastiras supported a People's Party government, under the terms that the latter would soon conduct elections.

Outcome

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First party in the elections of 1951 was the just-founded Greek Rally of Alexandros Papagos, which swept the traditionally dominant right-wing People's Party. Nevertheless, the two major centrist-liberal parties, the Liberal Party and the National Progressive Center Union, elected more deputies than the conservatives.

The left-wing EDA, a party believed to have been affiliated with the outlaw during 1950-1974 Communist Party of Greece, made its first appearance in these elections.

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Greek Rally624,31636.53114New
National Progressive Center Union401,37923.4974+29
Liberal Party325,39019.0457+1
United Democratic Left180,64010.5710–8
People's Party113,8766.662–60
Georgios Papandreou Party35,8102.100–35
Agricultural and Labour Party21,0091.231New
Socialist Party of Greece3,9120.230New
List of Independents1,5540.0900
Communist Archio-Marxist Party530.000New
Independents9650.0600
Total1,708,904100.00258+8
Valid votes1,708,90499.53
Invalid/blank votes8,1080.47
Total votes1,717,012100.00
Registered voters/turnout2,224,24677.20
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, Hellenic Parliament

Aftermath

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Since no party or alliance had the absolute majority in the Parliament and Alexandros Papagos refused to participate in a government of national unity, the Liberal Party and the National Progressive Center Union formed a minority government under the leadership of Nikolaos Plastiras, which lasted for about a year, since 1952, when Nikolaos Plastiras submitted his resignation and new legislative elections were proclaimed by the King Paul I.

References

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  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p830 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7