Elections for Dáil Éireann 1973

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Dáil Éireann 19731977 →

(Voter turnout 76.6%)

 %

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

46.24

35.08

13.67

1.14

3.87

FF

FG

ILP

SF

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to 1969

 % p

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

+0.58

+0.98

-3.35

+1.14

+0.65

FF

FG

ILP

SF

Otherwise.

    

A total of 144 seats

• Independent: 2
• ILP : 19
• FG : 54
• FF : 69

The elections for the Dáil Éireann 1973 took place on February 28, 1973 . The members of the 20th Dáil were determined.

The 144 parliamentarians first met on March 14, 1973, and the term of office was 1569 days.

At the time of the 1973 election, Fianna Fáil had been in power in Ireland for 16 consecutive years. During these 16 years the party had 3 leaders: Eamon de Valera , Seán F. Lemass and currently Jack Lynch . Many voters now believed it was time for a change of government. Lynch wanted to oppose this movement and was already hoping for new elections in December 1972, but this was postponed to February 1973.

After Fine Gael and the Labor Party had each had their own opposition policies since 1957, they now realized that the only way to replace Fianna Fáil in government was to act together. Shortly after the announcement of the new elections, both parties agreed to campaign together on the points that united them. The so-called. "National Coalition" (National Coalition) was the first possible alternative government for years.

Although Fianna Fáil was able to gain the first votes, the party lost seats. The increase in first votes was astonishing, as the party had been in power for 16 years and also because of the so-called arms crisis in 1970.

Political party	leader	Allocation of seats 1			By-elections (5) 2
		number	±	%-Distribution	Lost	Won	To keep	±
Fianna Fáil	Jack Lynch	69	−6	47.92%	2		4th	−2
Fine Gael	Liam Cosgrave	54	+4	37.50%		1	1	+1
Labor Party	Brendan Corish	19th	+1	13.19%		1		+1
Independent		2	+1	1.39%
		144	± 0

Footnotes

1. The (+/-) comparisons relate to the previous election and do not take into account any seat shifts caused by by-elections.
2. If a member of parliament leaves (e.g. through resignation, expulsion or death), his seat must be reassigned in a by-election . This can lead to a loss or gain of seats for individual parties. The number in brackets indicates the number of post-election dates; several seats can be re-elected on one appointment. This list includes seat changes due to changes in the party of individual parliamentarians.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ electionsireland.org.