1928 Newfoundland general election

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1928 Newfoundland general election
Flag of the Dominion of Newfoundland.svg
  1924 October 29, 1928 1932  

40 seats of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly
21 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
 
Sir Richard Squires LOC npcc.05059 (cropped).jpg
J. H. Scammell.png
Frederick C. Alderdice.png
Leader Richard Squires and J. H. Scammell Frederick C. Alderdice
Party Liberal Liberal-Conservative Progressive
Leader since1928 / 19261928
Leader's seatHumber /
Bonavista Centre [a]
St. John's City East [a]
Last election10 [b] 25
Seats won2812
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 18Decrease2.svg 13
Popular vote58,75045,787
Percentage54.98%42.85%
SwingIncrease2.svg 14.10%Decrease2.svg15.09%

Prime Minister before election

Walter Monroe
Liberal-Conservative Progressive

Prime Minister after election

Richard Squires
Liberal

The 1928 Newfoundland general election was held on 29 October 1928 to elect members of the 27th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The Liberal Party led by Richard Squires defeated the Conservative Party led by Frederick C. Alderdice and formed the government with the support of Fishermen's Protective Union members. Legislation had been introduced so that persons named to the Executive Council were no longer required to run for reelection.

Contents

In April 1925, women over the age of 25 had been granted the right to vote; in the 1928 general election, 90 per cent of women eligible to vote cast a ballot. Helena Squires became the first woman elected to the Newfoundland assembly in a 1930 by-election. [1]

Results by party

 PartyLeader 1924 CandidatesSeats wonSeat change% of seats
(% change)
Popular vote% of vote
(% change)
  Liberal Richard Squires 10 [b] 40
Liberal 26
FPU 14 [c]
28Increase2.svg1870.00%
(Increase2.svg42.22%)
58,75054.98%
(Increase2.svg14.10%)
  Fishermen's Protective Union [d] J. H. Scammell
  Liberal-Conservative Progressive Frederick C. Alderdice 254012Decrease2.svg1330.00%
(Decrease2.svg39.44%)
45,78742.85%
(Decrease2.svg15.09%)
 Other180Decrease2.svg 10.00%
(Decrease2.svg2.50%)
2,3172.17%
(Increase2.svg0.99%)
Totals368840Increase2.svg 4100%106,854100%

Elected members

St. John's

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
Liberal (historical)Liberal-ConservativeOther
St. John's City East William Brophy
2,956
22.34%
Frederick C. Alderdice
3,826
28.91%
William Higgins
St. John's East
Cyril Fox
St. John's East
St. Clair Churchill
2,764
20.89%
Gerald G. Byrne
3,687
27.86%
William Brophy
St. John's East
St. John's East ExternThomas S. Devine
931
42.57%
John Tobin
1,256
57.43%
New district
St. John's City West Alexander Campbell
4,352
28.04%
William Howley
3,373
21.73%
J. Sinclair Tait (Independent)
296
1.91%
John Crosbie
St. John's West
William Browne
St. John's West
Joseph Fitzgibbon
4,169
26.86%
William Browne
3,333
21.47%
William Linegar
St. John's West
St. John's West ExternKenneth Ruby
1,239
48.47%
Frank Bennett
1,317
51.53%
New district

Conception Bay

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
Liberal (historical)Liberal-ConservativeOther
Bay de VerdeWilliam Cave
1,117
40.54%
John Puddester
1,638
59.46%
Richard Cramm
(ran in Carbonear)
John Puddester
Bay Roberts John Parsons
1,193
66.24%
Augustus Calpin
608
33.76%
New district
Bell Island Joseph Greene
1,099
65.38%
Richard A. Howley
582
34.62%
New district
CarbonearHenry Cowan
689
29.71%
James Moore
1,065
45.92%
Richard Cramm (Independent)
565
24.36%
Robert Duff
Harbour Grace Frank Archibald
1,440
73.17%
Edward Oke
388
19.72%
Ernest Simmons (Independent)
140
7.11%
Albert Hickman
John R. Bennett
Charles Russell
Harbour Main Philip Lewis
1,532
25.78%
Charles Furey
1,468
24.70%
William Woodford
Albert Walsh
1,480
24.90%
William Walsh
1,463
24.62%
Cyril Cahill
(ran in Placentia East)
Port de Grave Robert Smith
1,349
61.15%
Henry Burt
331
15.00%
Joseph Cantwell (Independent)
526
23.84%
F. Gordon Bradley
(ran in Trinity Centre)

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
Liberal (historical)Liberal-ConservativeOther
Ferryland Peter Cashin
1,241
51.99%
Michael Shea
1,146
48.01%
Peter Cashin
Philip Moore
Placentia East Cyril Cahill
733
41.86%
Edward Emerson
753
43.00%
T. F. McGrath (Independent)
265
15.13%
Michael Sullivan
Placentia and St. Mary's (ran in Placentia West)
William Walsh
Placentia and St. Mary's (ran in Harbour Main)
Edward Sinnott
Placentia and St. Mary's
St. Mary's James Bindon
966
56.46%
Charles J. Ellis
713
41.67%
Michael Condon (Independent)
32
1.87%
New district
Trinity South Edwin Godden
1,274
56.98%
Harold Mitchell
962
43.02%
Edwin Godden
Trinity Bay

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
FPULiberal-Conservative
Bonavista Centre J. H. Scammell
1,309
60.94%
Walter Monroe
839
39.06%
Walter Monroe
Bonavista Bay
Bonavista East William Coaker
2,081
72.64%
Frederick House
784
27.36%
Lewis Little
Bonavista Bay
Bonavista North Robert G. Winsor
1,587
58.00%
William C. Winsor
1,149
42.00%
William C. Winsor
Bonavista Bay
Bonavista SouthSamuel Brown
899
48.02%
Herman Quinton
973
51.98%
New district
Trinity Centre F. Gordon Bradley (Liberal)
1,410
69.84%
Wallace Goobie
609
30.16%
Isaac Randell
Trinity Bay
Trinity North William Halfyard
976
53.57%
John G. Stone
846
46.43%
William Halfyard
Trinity Bay

Central Newfoundland

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
FPULiberal-ConservativeOther
Fogo Richard Hibbs
1,588
76.71%
Robert G. Brown
482
23.29%
Richard Hibbs
Grand Falls William Earle (Liberal)
1,848
62.96%
James S. Ayre
1,087
37.04%
New district
Green Bay Roland Starkes (Liberal)
1,357
74.15%
Walter Milley
389
21.26%
Peter Parsons (Independent)
84
4.59%
New district
Lewisporte George Grimes
1,005
75.06%
William Drover
334
24.94%
New district
Twillingate Kenneth Brown
922
53.42%
Thomas Ashbourne
804
46.58%
Kenneth Brown
George Grimes
(ran in Lewisporte)
Thomas Ashbourne

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
Liberal (historical)Liberal-Conservative
Burgeo Arthur Barnes
987
47.98%
Walter Chambers
1,070
52.02%
Walter Chambers
Burgeo and LaPoile
Burin EastJacob Hanham
1,149
49.19%
James Winter
1,187
50.81%
J. J. Long
Burin
Burin West H. B. C. Lake
1,347
56.76%
Samuel Foote
1,026
43.24%
H. B. C. Lake
Burin
Fortune Bay Harris Mosdell
1,092
54.06%
Harry A. Winter
928
45.94%
Harris Mosdell
Hermitage Philip Fudge
1,012
61.11%
Rendell Jeans
644
38.89%
New district
Placentia West [4] Thomas J. Connors
890
37.05%
Michael Sullivan
1,512
62.95%
New district

Western Newfoundland

Electoral districtCandidatesIncumbent
Liberal (historical)Liberal-ConservativeOther
Humber Richard Squires
3,011
82.65%
John A. Barrett
632
17.35%
New district
Port au PortJohn Joy
572
47.87%
William Abbott
623
52.13%
New district
St. Barbe Walter Skanes
1,240
69.35%
Joseph Quinton
548
30.65%
J. H. Scammell
(ran in Bonavista Centre)
St. George's Joseph Downey
747
45.41%
Thomas Power
489
29.73%
Edwin Gillis (Independent)
409
24.86%
Thomas Power
White Bay Joseph Strong
1,197
56.46%
Joseph Moore
923
43.54%
New district

Notes

  1. 1 2 Not the incumbent, but stood in this district and won
  2. 1 2 As the Liberal-Progressive Party
  3. In a 1932 Fishermen's Advocate article, Coaker states that the FPU fielded 14 candidates in the 1928 election, and that all of them were elected except for Samuel Brown, who was narrowly defeated in Bonavista South. However, he does not identify these candidates. [2] The results by district table below only denotes those who had previously been elected as a member of the FPU, as well as the above-mentioned Samuel Brown.
  4. As part of an electoral alliance with the Liberal party [3]

References

  1. "Women's Suffrage". Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Memorial University.
  2. Coaker, William. Past, Present and Future: Being a Series of Articles Contributed to the Fishermen's Advocate, 1932 (PDF). Port Union, Newfoundland: William Coaker. p. 18. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  3. "Fishermen's Protective Union After 1918". Maritime History Archive . Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  4. "District of Placentia West - Returning Officer's Statement at Conclusion of Counting". The Newfoundland Gazette. December 4, 1928. Retrieved May 4, 2025.

Further reading