| Election Name: | 1938 Trinidad and Tobago general election |
| Country: | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1933 Trinidad and Tobago general election |
| Previous Year: | 1933 |
| Next Election: | 1946 Trinidad and Tobago general election |
| Next Year: | 1946 |
| Majority Seats: | 4 |
| Image1: | TLP |
| Leader1: | Arthur Andrew Cipriani |
| Leader Since1: | 1934 |
| Party1: | Trinidad Labour Party |
| Leaders Seat1: | Port of Spain |
| Last Election1: | 3 seats |
| Seats1: | |
| Popular Vote1: | Unopposed |
| Leader2: | Adrian Cola Rienzi |
| Leader Since2: | 1938? |
| Party2: | Unionist Party |
| Party2 Name: | no |
| Leaders Seat2: | Victoria County |
| Last Election2: | New party |
| Seat Change2: | New party |
| Popular Vote2: | 2,471 |
| Swing2: | New party |
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago in 1938.
The Legislative Council had 12 official members (civil servants), six nominated members, seven elected members and the Governor, who served as the legislature's speaker. The seven elected members were elected from single-member constituencies.
The franchise was limited to people who owned property in their constituency with a rateable value of $60 (or owned property elsewhere with a rateable value of $48) and tenants or lodgers who paid the same sums in rent. All voters were required to understand spoken English. Anyone who had received poor relief within the most recent six months before election day was disqualified from voting.[1]
The restrictions on candidates were more severe, with candidature limited to men that lived in their constituency, were literate in English, and owned property worth at least $12,000 or from which they received at least $960 in rent a year. For candidates who had not lived in their constituency for at least a year, the property values were doubled.[2]
| Constituency | Candidate | Affiliation | Votes | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caroni County | Sarran Teelucksingh | Independent Labour | 574 | Re-elected | |||
| Clarence Abidh | Unionist Party | 468 | |||||
| Eastern Counties | Edward Vernon Wharton | – | Elected unopposed | ||||
| Port of Spain | Arthur Andrew Cipriani | Trinidad Labour Party | – | Re-elected unopposed | |||
| Saint George County | Michael Aldwyn Maillard | Trinidad Labour Party | – | Re-elected unopposed | |||
| Saint Patrick County | Timothy Roodal | Trinidad Labour Party | – | Re-elected unopposed | |||
| Tobago | George de Nobriga | – | Elected unopposed | ||||
| Victoria County | Adrian Cola Rienzi | Unionist Party | 2,003 | Elected | |||
| Harold Piper | Independent | 547 | |||||
| Source: John,[3] Teelucksingh,[4] Wyllie[5] | |||||||