1951 Newfoundland general election

1951 Newfoundland general election

←  1949 November 26, 1951 1956  →
28 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 15 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	75.1% ( 20.4 pp) [1] [2]
First party Second party   PC Leader Joey Smallwood Peter Cashin Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1949 1951 Leader's seat Bonavista North St. John's West [a] Last election 22 5 Seats won 24 4 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 83,628 46,782 Percentage 63.6% 35.6% Swing 2.1pp 3.1pp
Premier before election Joey Smallwood Liberal Premier after election Joey Smallwood Liberal

The 1951 Newfoundland general election was held on 26 November 1951 to elect members of the 30th General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal party.

Results

	Party	Leader	1949	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Liberal	Joey Smallwood	22	24		83,628	63.6%
	Progressive Conservative	Peter Cashin	5	4		46,782	35.6%
	Other		1	0	-100%	1,156	0.88%
Totals			28	28	-	131,566	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
St. John's East		William Ashley 4,652 20.11%		James Higgins 7,208 31.17%		John Higgins†
		William Ryan 4,634 20.04%		Frank Fogwill 6,634 28.68%		Frank Fogwill
St. John's West		Oliver Vardy 7,068 25.56%		Peter Cashin 7,176 25.95%		Oliver Vardy
		James Spratt 6,598 23.86%		Malcolm Hollett 6,811 24.63%		James Spratt

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Carbonear-Bay de Verde		Herbert Pottle 3,138 72.27%		P.W. Crummey 1,204 27.73%				Herbert Pottle
Harbour Grace		James Chalker 2,079 71.76%		Richard Parsons 818 28.24%				James Chalker
Harbour Main-Bell Island		Philip Lewis 2,893 25.25%		David Jackman 2,939 25.65%				David Jackman
		Addison Bown 2,877 25.11%		John Dawson 2,747 23.98%				Ronald Fahey†
Port de Grave		Isaac Mercer 1,935 66.06%		Richard A. Parsons 937 31.99%		Edgar Russell (Independent) 57 1.95%		George Makinson†

Avalon and Burin Peninsulas

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Burin		Phillip Forsey 3,611 90.61%		Grace Sparkes 374 9.39%				Phillip Forsey
Ferryland [b]		Myles Murray 1,426 49.96%		Augustine Duffy 1,428 50.04%				Peter Cashin ‡ (ran in St. John's West)
Placentia-St. Mary's		Greg Power 2,587 66.61%		Cornelius Mahoney 1,297 33.39%				Leonard Miller†
Placentia West		Patrick Canning 2,779 74.05%		Edward Reddy 605 16.12%		James McCarthy (Independent) 369 9.83%		Patrick Canning
Trinity South		Maxwell Button 2,630 74.46%		Edward Cranford 494 13.99%		James Reid (Independent) 408 11.55%		Maxwell Button

Eastern and Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Bonavista North		Joey Smallwood 3,916 91.71%		Kitchener Pritchett 354 8.29%		Joey Smallwood
Bonavista South		Clyde Brown Won by acclamation				Ted Russell†
Fogo		Gordon Janes 2,529 87.09%		James Way 375 12.91%		Gordon Janes
Grand Falls		Edward Spencer 5,935 78.04%		Nobel Baird 1,670 21.96%		Edward Spencer
Green Bay		Baxter Morgan Won by acclamation				Baxter Morgan
Trinity North		Samuel Hefferton 3,159 79.55%		Martin Bourne 812 20.45%		Samuel Hefferton
Twillingate		Leslie Curtis Won by acclamation				Leslie Curtis

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Burgeo-La Poile		George Norman 2,615 82.00%		E.J. Skinner 574 18.00%		Herman Quinton†
Fortune and Hermitage		John Courage 4,364 96.27%		Stanley Keeping 169 3.73%		John Courage
Humber		Charles Ballam 6,458 88.48%		Wesley Parsons 841 11.52%		Charles Ballam
St. Barbe		Reginald Sparkes 2,421 90.74%		Roland Roberts 247 9.26%		Reginald Sparkes
St. George's-Port au Port		William Keough 3,144 70.48%		D.J. Gillis 1,317 29.52%		William Keough
White Bay		Sam Drover Won by acclamation				Sam Drover

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Labrador		Frederick W. Rowe Won by acclamation						Harold Horwood†

Notes

1. Not the incumbent, but ran in this district and won
2. A judicial recount was held in this riding. Due to voting irregularities, a by-election was held on September 25, 1952, where Murray was ultimately elected.

References

1. "Returning Officer's Statement at Conclusion of Counting". The Newfoundland Gazette. January 22, 1952. Retrieved April 13, 2025.
2. "2021 Provincial General Election Report" (PDF). Elections NL . Retrieved April 13, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #30: November 26, 1951". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved April 13, 2025.