The events of 1919 have been interpreted as a manifestation of a united national community, a sacred totality (ittihad muqaddas); however, descriptions of the revolutionary crowd have observed that it was divided, that it was composed of various cultural types, gender divisions, and status classes. These cultural and social divisions shaped the course of post-revolutionary politics. When the nationalist coalition of 1919, known as the Wafd, emerged as a distinct political party after 1919 it was increasingly difficult to balance and thus represent Egypt’s diverse social constituencies. While some among the West-oriented professional class (effendiyya) envisioned a radical revolution, this idea was incomprehensible to the old elite (dhawat), conservative effendis, and incomprehensible to most rural notables. The Wafd Party was therefore forced to compromise with, firstly, the dhawat and, secondly, the rural notables. The result was a shift of power from the revolutionary crowd to the more conservative notables, mostly rural, as well as conservative effendis and dhawat. This paper analyses this process through a study of elections, including the electoral laws, electoral party lists, and manifestos. The question entertained was whether the notables were primarily motivated by their material interests, rooted in their localities, or if constitutional and ideological issues were also a primary factor. The paper argues that the elections opened the door to the involvement of new groups: empowered by the electoral process, the notables demanded a more conservative and traditionalist ideological orientation against the radical, democratic nationalism of 1919.