The 1933 Irish general election to the 8th Dáil was held on Tuesday, 24 January following the dissolution of the 7th Dáil on 2 January by Governor-General Domhnall Ua Buachalla on the advice of the Executive Council. The general election took place in 30 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Irish Free State for 153 seats in Dáil Éireann.

The 8th Dáil met at Leinster House on 8 February to nominate the President and Executive Council of the Irish Free State for appointment by the Governor-General. Outgoing president Éamon de Valera was re-appointed leading a Fianna Fáil government, which fell one seat short of an overall majority.

Campaign

Newsreel footage of campaign
  • De Valera campaigning in Clare
  • Cosgrave campaigning in Dublin

Result

Election to the 8th Dáil – 24 January 1933[4][5][6]
Party Leader Seats ± % of
seats 		First pref.
votes 		% FPv ±%
Fianna Fáil Éamon de Valera 77[a] +5 50.3 689,054 49.7 +5.2
Cumann na nGaedheal W. T. Cosgrave 48 –9 31.4 422,495 30.5 –4.8
National Centre Party Frank MacDermot 11 New 7.2 126,909 9.2 –
Labour William Norton 8 +1 5.2 79,221 5.7 –2.0
Independent N/A 9 –5 5.9 68,882 5.0 –5.4
Spoilt votes 14,707 — —
Total 153[a] 0 100 1,401,265 100 —
Electorate/Turnout 1,727,680 81.3% —

Voting summary

First preference vote
Fianna Fáil
 
 49.70%
Cumann na nGaedheal
 
 30.47%
National Centre
 
 9.15%
Labour
 
 5.71%
Independent
 
 4.97%

Seats summary

Dáil seats
Fianna Fáil
 
 50.33%
Cumann na nGaedheal
 
 31.37%
National Centre
 
 7.19%
Labour
 
 5.23%
Independent
 
 5.88%

Government formation

Excluding the Ceann Comhairle, Fianna Fáil won exactly half the seats and formed the 7th Executive Council of the Irish Free State with support from the Labour Party. Fianna Fáil eventually won enough by-elections to govern without Labour Party support.

Changes in membership

First time TDs

Re-elected TDs

Outgoing TDs

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Including Frank Fahy, returned automatically for the Galway as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 21 of the Constitution, as amended by the Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, and s. 2 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927.[1][2][3]

References

  1. ^ Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, s. 1: Re-election at general election of outgoing Chairman of Dáil Eireann (No. 6 of 1927, s. 1). Enacted on 19 March 1927. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  2. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927, s. 2: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 21 of 1927, s. 2). Enacted on 22 May 1927. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  3. ^ "8th Dáil 1933: Galway". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  4. ^ "8th Dáil 1933 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  5. ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
  6. ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.