1961 Trinidad and Tobago general election

1961 Trinidad and Tobago general election

4 December 1961 (1961-12-04)
All 30 seats in the Legislative Council 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	88.1 ( 8.0 pp)
First party Second party   Leader Eric Williams Rudranath Capildeo Party PNM DLP Leader since 15 January 1956 1960 Leader's seat Port of Spain South Last election 13 seats, 39.8% – Seats won 20 / 30 10 / 30 Seat change 7 New party Popular vote 190,003 138,190 Percentage 57.0% 41.7% Swing 17.2 pp New party
Premier before election Eric Williams People's National Movement Subsequent Premier and later Prime Minister Eric Williams People's National Movement

General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 4 December 1961. The result was a victory for the People's National Movement, which won 20 of the 30 seats. Voter turnout was 88.1%.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's National Movement	190,003	57.00	20	+7
	Democratic Labour Party	138,910	41.67	10	+3
	African National Congress	1,634	0.49	0	New
	Butler Party	1,314	0.39	0	–2
	Independents	1,502	0.45	0	–2
Total		333,363	100.00	30	+6
Valid votes		333,363	99.96
Invalid/blank votes		149	0.04
Total votes		333,512	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		378,511	88.11
Source: EBCTT