1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon between 23 August and 20 September 1947. They were the first elections overseen and administered by the newly formed Department of Parliamentary Elections.^[1]

1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election

← 1936 23 August–20 September 1947 1952 →
← outgoing members elected members →
95 seats in the House of Representatives of Ceylon 48 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	61.3%
First party Second party   LSSP Leader D. S. Senanayake N. M. Perera Party UNP LSSP Leader since 1946 1945 Leader's seat Mirigama Ruwanwella Seats won 42 10 Popular vote 751,432 204,020 Percentage 39.81% 10.81%
Prime Minister before election Position established Prime Minister after election D. S. Senanayake UNP

Background

This is considered the first national election held in Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). Although it took place before independence was actually granted, it was the first election under the Soulbury Constitution.

Some of the major figures who had led the independence struggle were found in the right-wing United National Party led by D.S. Senanayake. In opposition were the Trotskyist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, the Communist Party of Ceylon, the Ceylon Indian Congress and an array of independents.

Results

Senanayake's UNP fell short of a majority, but was able to form a government in coalition with the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, which had taken most of the seats in the Tamil-majority regions of the island.

Sri Lanka obtained full independence as a dominion in 1948. The British nevertheless retained military bases in the country and English remained as the official language along with much of the administrative system put in place by the British along with British officials.

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	United National Party	751,432	39.81	42
	Lanka Sama Samaja Party	204,020	10.81	10
	BSP–BLP	113,193	6.00	5
	All Ceylon Tamil Congress	82,499	4.37	7
	Ceylon Indian Congress	72,230	3.83	6
	Communist Party of Ceylon	70,331	3.73	3
	Ceylon Labour Party	38,932	2.06	1
	United Lanka Congress	3,953	0.21	0
	Swaraj Party	1,393	0.07	0
	Independents	549,381	29.11	21
Total		1,887,364	100.00	95
Total votes		1,701,150	–
Registered voters/turnout		3,048,145	55.81
Source: Nohlen et al.[2][a]

Notes

1. Actual turnout was slightly higher due to H. S. Ismail (UNP) being elected from Puttalam Electoral District without a contest.