1952 Ceylonese parliamentary election
# 1952 Ceylonese parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1952. It is notable for being the second and final election overseen and administered by the Department of Parliamentary Elections before its merger in 1955.

## Background

Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake died in March 1952, and was succeeded by his son, Dudley. The national wave of mourning for Ceylon's first prime minister greatly boosted the UNP's fortunes.

The 1952 election was the first contested by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had broken away from the UNP on a platform of Sinhala nationalism, and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party), which split from the All Ceylon Tamil Congress over joining the UNP government.

## Results

Because the estate Tamils had been stripped of their citizenship by the Senanayake government, the Ceylon Indian Congress, which most of them had supported, was eliminated from Parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party lost seats. The UNP won a majority, mainly at the cost of the CIC and the LSSP.

| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | United National Party | 1,026,005 | 44.08 | 54 |
| | Sri Lanka Freedom Party | 361,250 | 15.52 | 9 |
| | Lanka Sama Samaja Party | 305,133 | 13.11 | 9 |
| | CPC–VLSSP | 134,528 | 5.78 | 4 |
| | All Ceylon Tamil Congress | 64,512 | 2.77 | 4 |
| | Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi | 45,331 | 1.95 | 2 |
| | Republican Party | 33,001 | 1.42 | 0 |
| | Ceylon Labour Party | 27,096 | 1.16 | 1 |
| | Buddhist Republican Party | 3,987 | 0.17 | 0 |
| | Independents | 326,783 | 14.04 | 12 |
| Total | Total | 2,327,626 | 100.00 | 95 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 2,114,615 | – | |
| Registered voters/turnout | Registered voters/turnout | 2,990,912 | 70.70 | |
| Source: Nohlen et al. |||||
