1947 Prince Edward Island general election

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1947 Prince Edward Island general election
Flag of Prince Edward Island.svg
  1943 December 11, 1947 (1947-12-11) 1951  

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
16 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  John Walter Jones.jpg William Macmillan.jpg
Leader J. Walter Jones William J. P. MacMillan
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader since19431933
Leader's seat 4th Queens 5th Queens
Last election20 seats, 51.3%10 seats, 46.1%
Seats won246
Seat changeIncrease2.svg4Decrease2.svg4
Popular vote40,75836,661
Percentage50.3%45.3%
SwingDecrease2.svg1.0pp Decrease2.svg0.8pp

1947PEI.png
Map of PEI's ridings coloured in based on how they voted

Premier before election

J. Walter Jones
Liberal

Premier after election

J. Walter Jones
Liberal

The 1947 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on December 11, 1947. [1]

Contents

The governing Liberals of Premier J. Walter Jones were able to increase their majority in the Legislature over the opposition Progressive Conservatives, led by former Premier William J.P. MacMillan. This would be MacMillan's last election as PC leader.

The democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation increased their share of the vote marginally, but were unable to capture any seats. Cyrus Gallant, the CCF's candidate for Assemblyman in 3rd Prince, made history as the first third-party candidate to place second in an electoral contest over one of the two major party candidates.

Party Standings

246
LiberalPC
PartyParty LeaderSeatsPopular Vote
1943ElectedChange#%Change
  Liberal J. Walter Jones 2024+440,75850.3%-1.0%
  Progressive Conservative William J. P. MacMillan 106-436,66145.3%-0.8%
  Co-operative Commonwealth ---3,5094.3%+2.2%
  Independent ---890.1%+0.1%
Popular vote
Liberal
50.31%
PC
42.25%
CCF
4.33%
Others
0.11%
Seats summary
Liberal
80.00%
PC
20.00%

Members Elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district. [2]

Kings

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Kings    John R. McLean Progressive
Conservative
   T. J. Kickham Liberal
2nd Kings    Harry Cox Liberal    Lou Burge Progressive
Conservative
3rd Kings    Joseph G. Campbell Liberal    Keir Clark Liberal
4th Kings    John A. Campbell Liberal    Alexander Wallace Matheson Liberal
5th Kings    William Hughes Liberal    George Saville Liberal

Queens

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Queens    Frederic Large Liberal    W. F. Alan Stewart Liberal
2nd Queens    Philip Matheson Progressive
Conservative
   Reginald Bell Progressive
Conservative
3rd Queens    Russell C. Clark Liberal    Eugene Cullen Liberal
4th Queens    Dougald MacKinnon Liberal    John Walter Jones Liberal
5th Queens    David L. Matheson Progressive
Conservative
   William J. P. MacMillan Progressive
Conservative

Prince

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Prince    Hector Richard Liberal    Fred Ramsay Liberal
2nd Prince    George H. Barbour Liberal    Forrest Phillips Liberal
3rd Prince    J. Wilfred Arsenault Liberal    Thomas Linkletter Liberal
4th Prince    Cleveland Baker Liberal   
Horace Wright Liberal
5th Prince    Carrol Delaney Liberal    Lorne H. MacFarlane Liberal

Sources

  1. "Provincial General Election Results, 1947" (PDF). Elections PEI. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2015.
  2. Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.