1947 Hungarian parliamentary election

1947 Hungarian parliamentary election

31 August 1947

All 411 seats in the National Assembly
206 seats needed for a majority
Turnout92.3% ( 0.2 pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Mátyás Rákosi István Barankovics Lajos Dinnyés
Party MKP DNP FKgP
Alliance BB BB ally
Leader since 23 February 1945 8 May 1945 14 March 1947
Seats won
Popular vote 1,111,001 824,259 766,000
Percentage 22.25% 5.29 pp 16.50% 14.88 pp 15.34% 41.69 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Árpád Szakasits Zoltán Pfeiffer Péter Veres
Party MSZDP MFP NPP
Alliance BB BB
Leader since October 1944 August 1947 March 1945
Seats won
Popular vote 742,171 670,751 413,409
Percentage 14.86% 2.55 pp 13.43% 13.43 pp 8.28% 1.41 pp


Prime Minister before election

Lajos Dinnyés
FKGP

Prime Minister after election

Lajos Dinnyés
FKGP

Parliamentary elections, which later became known as the "blue-ballot" elections, were held in Hungary on 31 August 1947. The Hungarian Communist Party, which had lost the previous election, consolidated its power in the interim using salami tactics. Communist-led political intrigues had deprived their opposition of its democratically won mandate from 1945, as numerous prominent anti-Communists were removed from office on charges of conspiracy. These conspiracies reached a climax in late May 1947, when the Hungarian Communist Party deposed the democratically elected prime minister Ferenc Nagy in a coup d'état, removing one of the strongest opponents to their rule and crippling the opposition. This weakening of the opposition, combined with a revised electoral law, led to further Communist gains. This would be the last remotely competitive election held in Hungary until 1990.