| Election Name: | 1952 Ceylonese parliamentary election |
| Country: | Sri Lanka |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Previous Election: | 1947 Ceylonese parliamentary election |
| Previous Year: | 1947 |
| Outgoing Members: | 1st Parliament of Ceylon |
| Next Election: | 1956 Ceylonese parliamentary election |
| Next Year: | 1956 |
| Seats For Election: | 95 seats in the House of Representatives of Ceylon 48 seats were needed for a majority |
| Election Date: | 24–30 May 1952 |
| Image1: | Dudley Shelton Senanayaka (1911-1973).jpg |
| Leader1: | Dudley Senanayake |
| Leader Since1: | 1952 |
| Party1: | United National Party |
| Leaders Seat1: | Dedigama |
| Last Election1: | 39.81%, 42 seats |
| Seats1: | 54 |
| Seat Change1: | 12 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,026,005 |
| Percentage1: | 44.08% |
| Swing1: | 4.27pp |
| Leader2: | S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike |
| Leader Since2: | 1951 |
| Party2: | Sri Lanka Freedom Party |
| Leaders Seat2: | Attanagalla |
| Last Election2: | Did not exist |
| Seats2: | 9 |
| Seat Change2: | New party |
| Popular Vote2: | 361,250 |
| Percentage2: | 15.52% |
| Swing2: | New party |
| Image3: | 3x4.svg |
| Leader3: | N. M. Perera |
| Leader Since3: | 1945 |
| Party3: | Lanka Sama Samaja Party |
| Leaders Seat3: | Ruwanwella |
| Last Election3: | 10.81%, 10 seats |
| Seats3: | 9 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 305,133 |
| Percentage3: | 13.11% |
| Swing3: | 2.30pp |
| Prime Minister | |
| Posttitle: | Prime Minister after election |
| Before Election: | Dudley Senanayake |
| After Election: | Dudley Senanayake |
| Before Party: | United National Party |
| After Party: | United National Party |
Parliamentary elections were held in Ceylon in 1952. It is notable for being the second and final election overseen and administered by the Department of Parliamentary Elections before its merger in 1955.[1]
Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake died in March 1952, and was succeeded by his son, Dudley. The national wave of mourning for Ceylon's first prime minister greatly boosted the UNP's fortunes.
The 1952 election was the first contested by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which had broken away from the UNP on a platform of Sinhala nationalism, and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party), which split from the All Ceylon Tamil Congress over joining the UNP government.
Because the estate Tamils had been stripped of their citizenship by the Senanayake government, the Ceylon Indian Congress, which most of them had supported, was eliminated from Parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party lost seats. The UNP won a majority, mainly at the cost of the CIC and the LSSP.