Why is Ralph elected chief?

Ralph is elected chief in Lord of the Flies because he is the boy most visibly connected to the conch, which has just gathered the scattered boys into their first assembly. Piggy is the one who understands the conch’s usefulness, telling Ralph, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They'll come when they hear us—” But Ralph is the one who blows it, and that public act makes him seem like the person who brings order to the island.

Ralph also looks like a leader to the other boys. He is tall, handsome, athletic, and physically powerful, while Piggy, though smarter, is weak, asthmatic, and mocked almost immediately. Jack has an obvious claim too, since he already leads the choir and tries to take control of the meeting. When the boys vote, the choir supports Jack, but the rest choose Ralph because the conch has made him seem authoritative.

Ralph’s election is based less on proven wisdom than on appearance, symbolism, and the boys’ instinctive response to whomever seems strongest. His first major political move shows that he understands Jack’s wounded pride: he makes Jack leader of the hunters, trying to preserve unity. That compromise begins the novel’s larger tension between Ralph’s rule-based civilization and Jack’s hunger for power.