Malan's HNP Takes Power in South Africa – 26 May 1948

The Herenigde Nasionale Party (HNP – 'Reunited National Party') under the leadership of DF Malan becomes the new government in South Africa following a whites-only national election fought over the HNP's Apartheid ideology.

The United Party actually gained the majority of votes in the 1948 general election. But due to the manipulation of the geographical boundaries of the country's constituencies in the years before the election, the Herenigde Nasionale Party, HNP, managed to win the majority of constituencies. It was still, however a close thing:

Because there was a real worry amongst the HNP that the United Party might form a coalition with Labour, they were forced to make a coalition of their own with the Afrikaner Party. In 1951 the HNP and Afrikaner Party officially merged to form the National Party, which became synonymous with Apartheid.