1953 Maltese general election

General elections were held in Malta between 12 and 14 December 1953. The Malta Labour Party emerged as the largest party, winning 19 of the 40 seats. However, the Nationalist Party formed a government with the Malta Workers Party on 9 January 1954 with Giorgio Borġ Olivier continuing as Prime Minister.

1953 Maltese general election

12–14 December 1953
40 seats
First party Second party Third party   Leader Dom Mintoff George Borg Olivier Paul Boffa Party Labour Nationalist Workers Leader since 16 October 1949 1950 1949 Last election 14 seats, 35.7% 15 seats, 35.5% 7 seats, 18.8% Seats won 19 18 3 Seat change 5 3 4 Popular vote 52,771 45,180 14,000 Percentage 44.6% 38.1% 11.8%
Prime Minister before election George Borg Olivier Nationalist Elected Prime Minister George Borg Olivier Nationalist

Background

The Nationalist Party-Workers Party government led by Giorgio Borġ Olivier had been defeated in the Legislative Assembly vote on a budget motion on 9 October 1953. This led to the three Workers Party ministers resigning from the cabinet on 12 October. Following discussions with party leaders, the Assembly was dissolved by Governor Gerald Creasy on 15 October. Elections were called, and the Nationalist Party ministers remained in office as a caretaker government.

The election was contested by five parties; the Nationalist Party, the Workers Party, the Malta Labour Party, the Constitutional Party and the Progressive Constitutionalist Party, and were held using the single transferable vote system.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Malta Labour Party	52,771	44.55	19	+5
	Nationalist Party	45,180	38.14	18	+3
	Malta Workers Party	14,000	11.82	3	–4
	Progressive Constitutionalist Party	5,128	4.33	0	New
	Constitutional Party	1,374	1.16	0	–4
Total		118,453	100.00	40	0
Valid votes		118,453	99.26
Invalid/blank votes		880	0.74
Total votes		119,333	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		148,478	80.37
Source: Nohlen & Stöver