Shūgiin election in 1947

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Share of votes in%
 %
30th
20th
10
0
26.5
26.3
26.3
7.0
3.7
3.5
6.7
LP
DP
VVP
Otherwise.
Independent
Gains and losses
compared to 1946
 % p
 10
   8th
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
-10
+1.1
+8.1
+6.0
+0.7
-0.1
-8.5
-7.3
LP
DP
VVP
Otherwise.
Independent

The 1947 Shūgiin election took place on April 25, 1947. It was the 23rd election to Shūgiin , the Japanese lower house. The entry into force of the new constitution led to the dissolution of parliament by Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru on March 31 and new elections. There was a choice of 466 seats, which were determined in 40 three-member, 39 four-member and 38 five-member constituencies by simple non-transferable votes . The first election to the House of Lords had taken place five days earlier .

The turnout was 67.95%, around four percent lower than in the last election under the old constitution, which had only taken place the previous year, 1946.

Decisive for the outcome of the election was the split from parts of the Liberal Party of Yoshida, which merged with the Progressive Party of Japan ( Nihon Shimpotō ) to form the Democratic Party . This division of bourgeois forces enabled the Socialist Party of Japan (SPJ) to become the strongest faction in the Shūgiin for the first and only time in history.

Political party Seats Distribution of seats
Liberal Party of Japan 131
Japanese General election, 1947 en.svg
Socialist Party of Japan 143
Democratic Party 124
United People's Party 31
Japanese Peasant Party 5
Communist Party of Japan 4th
Others 16
Independent 12
total 466

Effects

After the election, Yoshida decided not to run, and SPJ chairman Katayama Tetsu was elected prime minister with just five votes against. His coalition cabinet made up of the SPJ, Democratic Party and United People's Party only lasted a year before he resigned in March 1948.

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