Irish general election, September 1927

Irish general election, September 1927

15 September 1927
152 of 153 seats in Dáil Éireann 77 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   110px Leader W. T. Cosgrave Éamon de Valera Thomas Johnson Party Cumann na nGaedheal Fianna Fáil Labour Party Leader since April 1923 26 March 1926 1922 Leader's seat Cork Borough Clare Dublin County (defeated) Last election 46 seats, 27.4% 44 seats, 26.2% 22 seats, 12.6% Seats before 47 43 22 Seats won 61 57 13 Seat change 14 14 9 Percentage 38.6% 35.2% 9.1% Swing 11.2% 9.0% 3.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Michael Heffernan William Redmond Party Farmers' Party National League Party Leader since 1927 1926 Leader's seat Tipperary Waterford Last election 11 seats, 8.9% 8 seats, 7.3% Seats before 11 8 Seats won 6 2 Seat change 5 6 Percentage 6.4% 1.6% Swing 2.5% 5.7%
Percentage of seats gained by each of the five biggest parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.
President of the Executive Council before election W. T. Cosgrave Cumann na nGaedheal Subsequent President of the Executive Council W. T. Cosgrave Cumann na nGaedheal

The Irish general election of September 1927 was held on 15 September 1927. The newly elected members of the 6th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 11 October when the new President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State were appointed. The result was a Cumann na nGaedheal minority government.

Campaign

The second general election of 1927 was caused by the uncertain political arithmetic within Dáil Éireann. Only three votes separated the two largest parties, Cumann na nGaedheal and Fianna Fáil, and the government was very unstable. When Fianna Fáil decided to enter the Dáil in August it gave its support to the Labour Party's motion of no confidence in the Cumann na nGaedheal government and to replace it with a Labour-led coalition with Labour leader Thomas Johnson as President of the Executive Council. The Labour Party was supported by Fianna Fáil and the National League Party. On the other hand the Cumann na nGaedheal government had the backing of the Farmers' Party and most of the Independent TDs. When the vote was taken, John Jinks, a National League TD failed to attend. As a result the vote was a dead heat and the Ceann Comhairle voted with the government. The motion failed.

W. T. Cosgrave realised that this situation could not continue and a general election was called in the hope of providing a clear result. Cumann na nGaedheal fought the election on its record in government so far. Fianna Fáil was the new party on the political scene with new policies and the promise of self-sufficiency. The Labour Party had done well on its last outing and was hoping, and was predicted, to win extra seats, in spite of internal divisions. The Farmers' Party represented the needs of agricultural labourers. Sinn Féin had been reduced by the founding of Fianna Fáil from 47 to 5 seats in the first 1927 election, and did not contest a single seat this time due to a lack of financial assets.

Result

6th Irish general election – 15 September 1927

Party		Leader	Seats	±	% of seats	First Pref votes	% FPv	±%
	Cumann na nGaedheal	W. T. Cosgrave	62	+15	40.5	453,028	38.7	+11.3
	Fianna Fáil	Éamon de Valera	57	+13	37.3	411,777	35.2	+9.1
	Labour Party	Thomas Johnson	13	–9	8.5	106,184	9.1	–3.4
	Farmers' Party	Michael Heffernan	6	–5	3.9	74,626	6.4	–2.5
	National League Party	William Redmond	2	–6	1.3	18,990	1.6	–5.7
	Irish Worker League	James Larkin	1	New	0.7	12,473	1.1	–
	Town Tenants' Association			0	0	832	0.1	0
	Independent	N/A	12	–4	7.8	92,959	7.9	–5.5
Spoilt votes						21,886	—	—
Total			153	0	100	1,192,755	100	—
Electorate/Turnout						1,730,177	69.0%	—

• Cumann na nGaedheal minority government formed.

Following the general election Cumann na nGaedheal were able to form a minority government with the support of the Farmers' Party and other Independent TDs. The Labour Party leader, Thomas Johnson, lost his seat in the election and subsequently retired from politics.

First time TDs

• William Aird
• Seán Brady
• Robert Briscoe
• Edmond Carey
• Michael Connolly
• Eamonn Cooney
• Peter de Loughry
• Patrick Gorry
• Stephen Jordan
• William Kent
• Arthur Matthews
• Joseph Mongan
• Daniel O'Leary
• Martin Sexton
• Richard Walsh

Outgoing TDs

• Austin Stack (Retired)
• Kathleen Clarke (Lost seat)
• John Jinks (Lost seat)
• Thomas Johnson (Lost seat)
• James J. Walsh (Retired)

See also

• Members of the 6th Dáil
• Government of the 6th Dáil