Purified National Party

The Purified National Party (Afrikaans: Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party) was a break away from Hertzog's National Party which lasted from 1935 to 1948.

Purified National Party Gesuiwerde Nasionale Party
Abbreviation	GNP
Leader	D. F. Malan
Founded	1935 (1935)
Dissolved	1939 (1939)
Preceded by	National Party
Merged into	Reunited (Herenigde) National Party
Ideology	Conservatism Afrikaner Nationalism
Political position	Centre-right
Politics of South Africa Political parties Elections

In 1935 the main portion of the National Party, led by J. B. M. Hertzog, merged with the South African Party of Jan Smuts to form the United Party. A hardline faction of Afrikaner nationalists, led by D. F. Malan, strongly opposed the merger. Malan and 19 other MPs defected to form the Purified National Party, which he led for the next fourteen years in opposition. Their Federale Raad (Federal Council) met in Bloemfontein to work out their own political program on 5 July 1935.

In 1939 the question of South African participation in World War II caused a split in the United Party. Hertzog's Nationalist wing broke away and merged with the Purified National Party to form the Reunited (Herenigde) National Party. This party went on to defeat the United Party in the election of 1948.