1958 Greek legislative election

Parliamentary elections were held in Greece on 11 May 1958.[1] The result was a second consecutive victory for Constantine Karamanlis and his National Radical Union party, which won 171 of the 300 seats in Parliament.

1958 Greek legislative election

11 May 1958
All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament 151 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Konstantinos Karamanlis Ioannis Passalidis Sofoklis Venizelos Party ERE EDA Liberal Leader since 1955 1951 1948 Last election 165 seats, 47.38% Ran with FIDE 132 seats, 48.15% Seats won 171 79 36 Seat change 6 Ran with FIDE 96 Popular vote 1,583,885 939,902 795,445 Percentage 41.16% 24.42% 20.67% Swing 6.22% Ran with FIDE 27.48%
Prime Minister before election Konstantinos Karamanlis ERE Subsequent Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis ERE

Background

Karamanlis took the decision to call for early elections, after some of the most prominent members of the National Radical Union defected from the party, including George Rallis and Panagis Papaligouras. Although Karamanlis could have a parliamentary majority, he preferred to go for elections, in order to achieve a renewed public support.

The pretext of the defection was a new electoral law that Karamanlis passed. Rallis was opposed to the law, thinking that it is going to be extremely favorable for EDA, a party believed to be linked with the then-banned Communist Party of Greece.

The outcome of the results proved that Rallis' "fears" were justified. EDA became the second biggest party, outvoting a divided centre.

Just after the elections Karamanlis formed a new government, taking back in his party the defectors.

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
National Radical Union	1,583,885	41.2	171	+6
United Democratic Left	939,902	24.4	79	–
Liberal Party	795,445	20.7	36	–
Progressive Agricultural Democratic Union	408,787	10.6	10	New
Union of Populars	113,358	2.9	4	New
List of Independents	4,009	0.1	0	–2
Independents	2,339	0.1	0	–1
Invalid/blank votes	16,197	–	–	–
Total	3,863,922	100	300	0
Registered voters/turnout	5,119,148	75.5	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Popular vote ERE   41.16% EDA   24.43% KF   20.67% PADE   10.62% EL   2.95% Others   0.16%

Parliament seats ERE   57.00% EDA   26.33% KF   12.00% PADE   3.33% EL   1.33%

Aftermath

The unexpected rise of EDA, barely nine years after the end of the Greek Civil War, sent alarms through the right-wing establishment, and measures were taken to combat the emergent "communist threat", including the division of the large urban electoral districts of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki so that the left-voting areas would be separated (forming the Athens B, Piraeus B, etc. constituencies), as well as the establishment of a dedicated domestic security agency, the General Directorate of National Security.

References

1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p830 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7