1949 Canadian federal election

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1949 Canadian federal election
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg
  1945 June 27, 1949 1953  

262 seats in the House of Commons
132 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout73.8% [1] (Decrease2.svg1.5pp)
 First partySecond party
  Louis St. Laurent 1954 37112 (cropped2).jpg GeorgeDrew (cropped).jpg
Leader Louis St. Laurent George A. Drew
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader since August 7, 1948 October 2, 1948
Leader's seat Quebec East Carleton
Last election11865
Seats won19141
Seat changeIncrease2.svg73Decrease2.svg24
Popular vote2,874,8131,734,261
Percentage49.15%29.65%
SwingIncrease2.svg9.37pp Increase2.svg2.03pp

 Third partyFourth party
  Major James Coldwell (cropped).jpg Solon Earl Low (cropped2).jpg
Leader Major James Coldwell Solon Earl Low
Party Co-operative Commonwealth Social Credit
Leader since March 22, 1942 April 6, 1944
Leader's seat Rosetown—Biggar Peace River
Last election2813
Seats won1310
Seat changeDecrease2.svg15Decrease2.svg3
Popular vote784,770135,217
Percentage13.42%2.31%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.13pp Decrease2.svg1.74pp

Canada 1949 Federal Election.svg

Chambre des Communes 1949.png
The Canadian parliament after the 1949 election

Prime Minister before election

Louis St. Laurent
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Louis St. Laurent
Liberal

The 1949 Canadian federal election was held June 27, 1949 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 21st Parliament of Canada.

Contents

The Liberal Party of Canada was re-elected with its fourth consecutive government, winning 191 seats (73 percent of the seats in the House of Commons), with just under 50 percent of the popular vote.

It was the Liberals' first election in almost thirty years not under the leadership of William Lyon Mackenzie King. King had retired in 1948, and was replaced as Liberal leader and Prime Minister by Louis St. Laurent.

It was the first federal election with Newfoundland voting, having joined Canada in March of that year. It was also the first election since 1904 in which part of the remaining parts of the Northwest Territories were granted representation, following the partitioning off of the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The Liberal Party victory won the largest majority in Canadian history to that point. As of 2022, it remains the third largest majority government in Canadian history, and the largest in the party's history (the Progressive Conservative Party won larger seat majorities in 1958 and 1984).

The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Premier of Ontario George Drew, gained little ground in this election. The party lost over a third of their seats.

Smaller parties, such as the social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and Social Credit, a party that advocated monetary reform, lost support to the Liberals and, to a lesser extent, the Conservatives.

National results

1949 Canadian parliament.svg
PartyParty leader# of
candidates
SeatsPopular vote
1945 Elected% Change#%Change
  Liberal Louis St. Laurent 258117191+63.2%2,874,81349.15%+9.37pp
  Progressive Conservative George Drew 2496541-21.5%1,734,26129.65%+2.03pp
  Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 1802813-53.6%784,77013.42%-2.13pp
Social Credit Solon Low 281310-23.1%135,2172.31%-1.74pp
 Independent2864-33.3%119,8272.05%-2.84pp
 Independent Liberal1581-87.5%30,4070.52%-1.27pp
  Liberal-Labour  2-1 11,7300.20%+0.19pp
Liberal–Progressive  111-9,1920.16%+0.04pp
  Union of Electors Réal Caouette 56---86,0871.47%+1.46pp
Labor–Progressive Tim Buck 171--100%32,6230.56%-1.58pp
 Independent PC61--100%8,1950.14%-0.14pp
  Farmer-Labour  1---6,1610.11%-0.07pp
  National Unity Adrien Arcand 1*-*5,5900.10%*
 Nationalist 1*-*4,9940.09%*
 Independent Social Credit2*-*4,5980.08%*
Labour  2---4150.01%x
  Socialist Labour  1*-*271x*
Total848245262+7.8%5,849,151100% 
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine

Notes:

* The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote
Liberal
49.15%
PC
29.65%
CCF
13.42%
Social Credit
2.31%
Labor-Progressive
0.56%
Others
7.58%
Seat totals
Liberal
72.90%
PC
15.64%
CCF
4.96%
Social Credit
3.81%
Others
2.67%

Results by province

Party name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL Terr Total
  Liberal Seats:11514115568810351191
 Popular Vote:36.733.843.445.145.160.453.852.749.271.949.049.1
  Progressive Conservative Seats:32112522212-41
 Vote:27.916.814.422.037.424.539.437.548.427.9 29.7
  Co-operative Commonwealth Seats:3-531--1---13
 Vote:31.510.040.925.915.21.14.29.92.40.217.013.4
  Social Credit Seats:-10- -      10
 Vote:0.537.40.9 0.2      2.3
 IndependentSeats:1  --3-    4
 Vote:2.6  2.10.16.10.2   34.02.1
 Independent LiberalSeats:    1--    1
 Vote:    0.31.31.4    0.5
  Liberal-Labour Seats:    1-     1
 Vote:    0.6xx     0.2
  Liberal-Progressive Seats:   1       1
 Vote:   2.9       0.2
Total Seats1817201683731013471262
Parties that won no seats:
  Union of Electors Vote:    0.15.11.0    1.5
Labor–Progressive Vote:0.80.70.42.00.70.3     0.6
 Independent PCVote:    xx0.5     0.1
 Farmer-Labour Vote:    0.3      0.1
  National Unity Vote:     0.4     0.1
 NationalistVote:     0.3     0.1
 Independent Social CreditVote: 1.4         0.1
Labour Vote:    xxxx     xx
  Socialist Labour Vote:    xx      xx

See also

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References

  1. "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

Further reading