1938 Trinidad and Tobago general election

Last updated

1938 Trinidad and Tobago general election
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg
  1933 1938 1946  

7 seats in the Legislative Council
4 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeaderSeats+/–
Trinidad Labour Party Arthur Andrew Cipriani 30
Unionist Party Adrian Cola Rienzi 1New
Independent Labour Sarran Teelucksingh 10
Independents 2−1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Trinidad and Tobago 1938 election map.png
Results by constituency

General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago in 1938.

Contents

Electoral system

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. [1]

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. [2] 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]

Results

ConstituencyCandidateAffiliationVotesNotes
Caroni County Sarran Teelucksingh Independent Labour574Re-elected
Clarence Abidh Unionist Party468
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 Party2,003Elected
Harold PiperIndependent547
Source: John, [3] Teelucksingh, [4] Wyllie [5]

References

  1. 1 2 George John (1991) 50 Years of the Ballot, Trinidad Express Newspapers, p8
  2. 1 2 John, p7
  3. John, p67
  4. Jerome Teelucksingh (2014) Labour and the Decolonization Struggle in Trinidad and Tobago
  5. George James Wyllie (1959) Political Parties in Trinidad and Tobago, p61