Lopsided defeat in a contested election
An electoral wipeout occurs when a major party receives far fewer votes or seats in a legislature than their position justifies. It is the opposite of a
landslide victory; the two frequently go hand in hand.
A use of the phrase generally assumes that the returns were the product of a legitimate election;
show elections to fraudulent legislatures regularly produce incredibly strong majorities for the ruling party(s).
Australia
Federal elections
Between 1901 and 1949, the federal upper house, the
Australian Senate, was elected by a system of majoritarian or "winner-take-all" voting. Each state had three of its six Senators retiring at each half-senate election. Each voter had three votes at each election, whether by first-past-the-post (
FPTP) 1901–1918, or the
alternative vote. It was often the case that the three seats all went the same way, leading to lopsided results in the six states such as 36–0 or 3–33.
In 1948, the
Single Transferable Vote (STV) was introduced. At the same time, the number of senators per state was increased from 6 to 10, with 5 instead of 3 retiring at each triennial election.
Since the introduction of STV in the Senate, the parties have generally been evenly balanced, with minor parties and independents holding the balance of power.
In the
2004 election, the
Howard government reached 57% of the senate vote in
Queensland after the distribution of preferences under the then-used
Group Ticket Voting system. It thereby obtained a majority in its own right in the senate from July 2005, when the new senators took up their seats. The number of quotas required to win a majority (four) of six seats, at 57% (four-sevenths of the votes), is so high because there are an even number of seats.
In the lower house, FPTP was changed to preferential voting in 1918.
State and territory elections
- At the
1974 Queensland state election, using single-member electorates and
full-preferential voting, the Labor opposition was reduced to a "
cricket team" of eleven MPs, against the National Country Party/ Liberal Party Coalition government with 69 seats (and 2 independents). Labor recorded an even worse result in the
2012 Queensland state election when it lost office and was reduced to seven seats, with the
Liberal National Party of Queensland winning 78, the
Katter's Australian Party winning 2 and 2 independents.
- At the
2016 Northern Territory general election, the one-term incumbent
Country Liberal government, led by
Adam Giles (who replaced
Terry Mills), was defeated by the Labor opposition, led by
Michael Gunner. The CLP lost all but two seats. Although it was outnumbered by independents (and later on by the new
Territory Alliance party due to defections), the CLP remained the official opposition and regained several seats at
the next election.
- At the
2021 Western Australian state election, the WA Liberal opposition was reduced to only two seats against Labor's 53. This made them one of the only instances of one of the major parties having less seats than a third party (the Nationals received 4 seats in the election).
[1] This election had already been conceded by the Liberal leader
Zak Kirkup before election day,
[2] but even Kirkup lost his seat, making him the first major party leader in 88 years in Western Australia to do so.
[3]
Barbados
Canada
Canadian politics has seen electoral wipeouts at both provincial and federal level.
- In the
2018 Ontario general election, the
Ontario Liberal Party lost 48 seats, falling from 58 in 2014 to 7 seats.
- In the
1993 Canadian federal election the governing
Progressive Conservative Party, which had been in office for nearly a decade, was reduced from an overall majority of 156 seats to only two and suffered a 25% drop in their vote.
- In the
2011 Canadian federal election, the
Bloc Québécois was reduced from 47 to 4 seats.
- In the
2001 British Columbia general election, the governing NDP was reduced from 37 to two seats, with the other 77 being won by the Liberals.
- The
1987 New Brunswick general election saw the ruling
Progressive Conservatives lose all 39 of their seats, with the
Liberal Party winning every seat in the legislature.
- In the
1987 Ontario general election, 42 years of
Progressive Conservative rule ended as the party lost 36 of its 52 seats and fell to third place.
- The
1935 Prince Edward Island general election resulted in the incumbent
Conservatives lose all 18 of their seats to the
Liberals, who won every seat in the legislature.
- Saskatchewan has seen electoral wipeouts on four separate occasions: the
1934 election resulted in the incumbent
Conservatives lose all of their seats; the
1944 election saw the governing
Liberals reduced to 5 seats from 38; the
1982 election resulted in the incumbent
NDP losing 35 of their 44 seats; and in
1991 the Conservatives were ousted with a 28-seat drop to 10 seats.
Fiji
Germany
The use of an
electoral threshold in German elections means that sometimes a major party can fail to win seats in the
Bundestag or a state parliament, either because their vote share falls below 5% or because the number of directly-elected seats drops below 3. Post-war examples include:
India
National level
2014 Indian general election: Then-ruling
Indian National Congress suffered a decline of 9.24% in vote share.The party slumped to an all-time low of 44 seats from the previous tally of 206 (out of total 543 seats of Lok Sabha) and was thus removed from power.
State level
2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election:
Communist Party of India (Marxist) had been winning elections continuously since 1977. However in 2011, it faced a catastrophic loss of 136 seats and was reduced to 40 seats in the Vidhan Sabha(total 294 seats). The party was thus ousted from power.
Malaysia
- In the
1990 Kelantan state election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional state government went from 29 to 0 seats out of 39 in the
Kelantan State Legislative Assembly and were ousted from power, thus made
Malaysian Islamic Party became the state government continuously since then.
- In the
1999 Terengganu state election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional state government went from 25 to 4 seats out of 32 in the
Terengganu State Legislative Assembly and were ousted from power.
- In the
2004 Terengganu state election, the ruling
Malaysian Islamic Party state government went down from 28 to 4 out of 32 and were ousted from power.
- In the
2008 Kedah state election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional state government went from 31 to 14 out of 36 in the
Kedah State Legislative Assembly and were ousted from power.
- In the
2008 Penang state election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional state government went from 38 to 11 seats out of 40 in the
Penang State Legislative Assembly and were ousted from power, thus made
Pakatan Harapan became the state government continuously since then.
- In the
2008 Selangor state election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional state government went from 54 to 20 seats out of 56 in the
Selangor State Legislative Assembly and were ousted from power, thus made
Pakatan Harapan became the state government continuously since then.
- In the
2018 Malaysian general election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional went from 133 to 79 seats out of 222 in the
Dewan Rakyat and were ousted from power.
- In the
2022 Malaysian general election,
Barisan Nasional was wiped out from parliament seats in
Kedah,
Kelantan,
Terengganu,
Perlis due to
Green Wave phenomenon.
- In the
2022 Perlis state election, the ruling
Barisan Nasional state government went from 10 to 0 seats out of 15 in the
Perlis State Legislative Assembly and were ousted from power.
[5]
- In the
2022 Perak state election,
Barisan Nasional was wiped out of most state seats in Northern Perak, losing most of its seats to
Perikatan Nasional.
New Zealand
Until it moved to a
proportional representation system in 1996, general elections in New Zealand were also prone to the possibility of wipeouts, though these in general involved the likelihood of third parties getting few or no seats rather than one of the two major parties being massively underrepresented. This former circumstance occurred most starkly in the
1981 general election, in which the
Social Credit Party gained 20.6% of the vote yet gained only two seats in the 92-seat parliament.
The
1935 general election did, however, see a major party wipeout, and led to the creation of a new major party. In the 1935 election, the
Labour Party gained 46.1% of the vote to the
United/Reform Coalition's 32.9%, but won 53 seats to the United/Reform's 19. As a result of this election the two coalition parties merged to form the
National Party, which remains a major force in current New Zealand politics.
Philippines
In the Philippines, the
House of Representatives (and its predecessors) are, for the most part, elected under
first-past-the-post (FPTP) system; in 1998,
parallel voting was instituted, where 20% of the seats are contested in a
party-list system, with the 80% of the seats still being elected via FPTP. The
Senate since 1941 has been elected under
multiple non-transferable vote. From 1941 to 1951, voters can vote under
general ticket, which can lead to wipeouts for any party that wins the election. In 1978, this was also the electoral system for the
Interim Batasang Pambansa (parliament).
Poland
The chaotic emergence of a democratic political scene following
the fall of communism and the often-changing electoral system caused many wipeouts in Polish electoral history:
- In the
1993 Polish parliamentary election,
Centre Agreement,
Liberal Democratic Congress,
Peasants' Agreement,
Solidarity,
Polish Beer-Lovers' Party,
Real Politics Union and
Party X, which held a total of 158 seats, all failed to pass the newly introduced 5% electoral threshold, losing all seats.
- In the
1997 Polish parliamentary election, the
Polish People's Party which was part of the ruling coalition won 27 seats, down from 132 in the previous election, while
Labour Union failed to pass electoral threshold and lost all 41 seats.
- In the
2001 Polish parliamentary election, the ruling
Solidarity Electoral Action-
Freedom Union coalition failed to enter parliament, losing all 261 seats. Solidarity Electoral Action dissolved soon after, while Freedom Union was succeeded by
Democratic Party – demokraci.pl in 2005.
- In the
2005 Polish parliamentary election, the ruling
Democratic Left Alliance won 55 seats, down from 216 in the previous election and lost all 70 seats in the
Senate.
- In the
2007 Polish parliamentary election,
Self-Defence of the Republic of Poland and
League of Polish Families, both part of the ruling coalition, lost all 56 and 34 seats respectively. Both parties never appeared in the
Sejm again.
- In the
2015 Polish parliamentary election, the
United Left lost all 67 seats due to not passing the 8% threshold for electoral coalitions. The coalition reappeared in the Sejm in the
2019 election as
The Left.
Spain
- In the
1982 Spanish general election, ruling
Union of the Democratic Centre went down from 168 to 11 seats, out of 350, and were ousted from government.
- In the
April 2019 Spanish general election, the
People's Party went from holding 127 of the 208 directly elected senate seats to just 54, falling from a comfortable overall majority of 61% of seats to holding just over 27% of the total, despite the fact that the Spanish electoral system for the Senate all but guarantees at least one seat for the runner-up party in 47 of the 50 provinces. Meanwhile, in the Congress of Deputies, the PP lost all their seats in the Basque Country (down from 2) and were reduced to a single one in Catalonia (down from 5).
- In the
November 2019 Spanish general election the
Citizens party lost 47 of their 57 seats in Congress.
United Kingdom
General elections
- In the
1997 United Kingdom general election, the
Conservative Party were wiped out in
Scotland and
Wales, losing eleven and six seats respectively. The Conservatives also failed to pick up a seat in Wales in the
2001 election. The Conservatives picked up a seat in Scotland in 2001, but they did not gain any additional MPs until 2017, while their share of the vote remained below 20%.
- In the
2005 United Kingdom general election, the
Ulster Unionist Party, which had been Northern Ireland's largest party, lost 5 of its 6 seats. Its last seat was lost at the
2010 election, leaving it without representation for the first time since the party was created in 1912.
- In the
2015 United Kingdom general election, the
Liberal Democrats lost 49 of their 57 seats, and despite taking 8% of the national vote only had 1.2% of the MPs. Both Labour and the Lib Dems were nearly wiped out in Scotland, retaining just one seat each.
Scottish elections
The
Scottish Parliament elections use a version of the
additional member system, meaning that 73 seats are won through
First Past the Post constituency votes, and additional seats are added for the regional vote which uses a variation of the
D'Hondt method.
Welsh elections
The
Senedd uses the
additional member system.
Elsewhere
- In the
1950 Turkish general election, ruling
Republican People's Party went down from 395 to 69 seats, out of 487 and were ousted from government.
- In the
1986 Trinidad and Tobago general election – The ruling
People's National Movement led by Prime Minister
George Chambers went from 26 to 3 seats, out of 36 seats the
House of Representatives with 32% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
1990 Grenadian general election – The ruling
New National Party led by Prime Minister
Keith Mitchell went from 14 to 2 seats, out of 15 seats the
House of Representatives with 18% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
1991 Trinidad and Tobago general election – The ruling
National Alliance for Reconstruction led by Prime Minister
A. N. R. Robinson went from 31 to 2 seats, out of 36 seats the
House of Representatives with 25% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
1998 Belizean general election – The ruling
United Democratic Party led by Prime Minister
Manuel Esquivel went from 15 to 3 seats, out of 36 seats the
House of Representatives with 40% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
-
1993 French legislative election: Ruling
Socialist Party went down from 260 to 53 seats out of 577. Socialists were ousted from government and outgoing Prime Minister
Pierre Bérégovoy committed
suicide after the loss.
- In the
2000 Mongolian legislative election, the
Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party overturned a large majority for the Democratic Union, winning 72 out of the 76 seats contested.
- In the
2002 French legislative election, the centre party
Union for French Democracy went down from 112 to 29 seats out of 577, with a further decrease to just 3 seats in
2007.
- In the
2002 Turkish general election, all three members of the ruling coalition (
DSP-
MHP-
ANAP), lost all of their seats
in the parliament due to their failure to meet %10 electoral threshold. DSP went from 136 to 0 seats, MHP went from 129 to 0 seats and ANAP went from 86 to 0.
Main opposition party,
DYP also went from 85 to 0 seats.
- In the
2006 Israeli legislative election - The ruling
Likud party went from 38 to 12 seats out of 120 and were ousted from the government.
- In the
2008 Belizean general election – The ruling
People's United Party led by Prime Minister
Said Musa went from 22 to 6 seats, out of 31 seats the
House of Representatives with 40% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
2009 Japanese general election-The ruling
Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) went down from 296 to 119 seats out of 480 in the
House of Representatives and were ousted from the government.
- In the
2011 Irish general election, the ruling
Fianna Fáil party suffered the worst defeat in
its history, returning only 20
TDs to the
Dáil. The party moved from being the largest party in the
Republic of Ireland, to third for the first time ever. Since the formation of the first Fianna Fáil government in
1932, until the 2011 election, Fianna Fáil had been in power for 61 of those 79 years and had always been the largest party in the state (regardless of whether it was in power or not). Many factors caused the electoral meltdown, but chief among them was the
collapse of the Irish economy.
[7] In addition, its coalition partner, the
Green Party lost all of its seats.
[8]
- In the
2012 Japanese general election, the ruling
Democratic Party of Japan went down from 308 to 57 seats out of 480 with 15% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
2013 Israeli legislative election, the centre party
Kadima went down from 28 to 2 seats out of 120, barely passing the electoral threshold by just a few hundred votes and then it chose to not contest the
2015 elections.
- In the
2017 Bahamian general election – The ruling
Progressive Liberal Party led by Prime Minister
Perry Christie went from 29 to 4 seats, out of 39 seats the
House of Representatives with 39% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
2017 French legislative election, the ruling
Socialist Party went down from 280 to 30 seats out of 577. Socialists were ousted from government.
- In the
2018 Barbadian general election – The ruling
Democratic Labour Party led by Prime Minister
Freundel Stuart went from 16 to 0 seats, out of 30 seats the
House of Assembly with 28% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
2020 Belizean general election – The ruling
United Democratic Party led by Deputy Prime Minister
Patrick Faber went from 19 to 5 seats, out of 31 seats the
House of Representatives with 39% of the popular vote and were ousted from government.
- In the
2021 Moroccan general election - The ruling
Justice and Development Party went from 125 to 13 seats out of 395 in the
House of Representatives and were ousted from power.
- In the
2024 Maldivian parliamentary election - the
People's National Congress won a landslide against the
Maldivian Democratic Party which lost 56 seats and won just 9.
[9]
References