South African general election, 1966

1961 ←

30 March 1966 (1966-03-30)

→ 1970

All 166 general roll seats in the House of Assembly

	First party	Second party

Leader	Hendrik Verwoerd	De Villiers Graaff
Party	National Party	United
Last election	105 seats	49 seats
Seats won	126	39
Seat change	21	10
Popular vote	759,331	486,629
Percentage	58.31%	37.37%
Swing	12.20%	1.49%

House of Assembly after the election

Prime Minister before election

Hendrik Verwoerd
National Party

Elected Prime Minister

Hendrik Verwoerd
National Party

The 1966 South African general election, on 30 March 1966, resulted in another comprehensive victory for the National Party under Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd.

The number of House of Assembly seats for White voters in South Africa had been increased from 150 to 160 by the Constitution Amendment Act of 1965. In addition, there were six seats for White voters from South-West Africa (now Namibia). There were also four seats reserved for Coloured representatives, who did not have to stand for re-election during 1966.

The second election for the four coloured representative members had taken place on 4 October 1961, before the (white voters only) general election on 8 October 1961. Under the Separate Representation of Voters Act 1951, the members had been elected to serve until the dissolution of the 1961–1966 Parliament.

The Progressive Party (PP) won the two seats representing coloured voters on the Cape Provincial Council, at an election in 1965. The National Party (NP) government became concerned at the prospect of four additional Progressive MPs being elected. The opposition United Party (UP) also feared the loss of support, if the existing four UP supported independent members were defeated.

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