1951 Ontario general election

Last updated

1951 Ontario general election
Flag of Ontario.svg
  1948 November 22, 1951 1955  

90 seats in the 24th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
46 seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Leslie Frost Premier of Ontario.jpg Walter Cunningham Thomson Infobox.jpg
Leader Leslie Frost Walter Thomson
Party Progressive Conservative Liberal
Leader since April 27, 1949 November 10, 1950
Leader's seat Victoria Ran in Ontario (Lost)
Last election5314
Seats won798
Seat changeIncrease2.svg26Decrease2.svg6
Percentage48.5%31.5%
SwingIncrease2.svg7.0pp Increase2.svg1.7pp

 Third partyFourth party
  Ted jolliffe 1942.jpg Stewartsmith.jpg
Leader Ted Jolliffe Stewart Smith
Party Co-operative Commonwealth Labor-Progressive
Leader since April 3, 1942 1951
Leader's seat York South (lost re-election)
Last election212
Seats won21
Seat changeDecrease2.svg19Decrease2.svg1
Percentage19.1%0.7%
SwingDecrease2.svg3.3pp Decrease2.svg0.3pp

Premier before election

Leslie Frost
Progressive Conservative

Premier after election

Leslie Frost
Progressive Conservative

The 1951 Ontario general election was held on November 22, 1951, to elect the 90 members of the 24th Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario. [1]

Contents

Background

Because of Canada's participation in the Korean War, and because previous legislation governing the participation of active service voters stationed overseas had lapsed, [2] new provision was made to enable the collection of votes of Ontario residents who had returned to active service because of the present conflict. [3] Legislation governing the functioning of elections [4] and the preparation of voters' lists [5] was also revised.

Opinion Polls

Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firmLast day
of survey
Source PCO OLP OCCF OtherUndecidedMESample
Election 1953November 22, 195148.531.519.10.9
GallupOctober 1951 [6] 444014322
GallupAugust 1951 [6] 474011130
GallupJune 1951 [7] 4541131
GallupFebruary 1951 [7] 434214123 [6]
GallupJuly 1950 [6] 443914321
Election 1948 June 7, 194841.2826.5229.782.42

Campaign

The majority of races were three-way contests between the major parties:

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1951)
CandidatesPCLibL-LCCFLab-PrI-PCI-LabIndS-LTotal
2131326
36462264192
41212125213148
5111115
Total908827762141271

Outcome

The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by Leslie Frost, won a fourth consecutive term in office, increasing its caucus in the legislature from 53 in the previous election to 79—a solid majority.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Walter Thomson, lost six seats, but regained the role of official opposition because of the collapse of the CCF vote. Albert Wren was elected as a Liberal-Labour candidate and sat with the Liberal caucus.

The social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), led by Ted Jolliffe, lost all but two of its previous 21 seats with Jolliffe himself being defeated in the riding of York South.

One seat was won by J.B. Salsberg of the Labor-Progressive Party (which was the Communist Party of Ontario). LPP leader A.A. MacLeod lost his downtown Toronto seat of Bellwoods in this election and three other LPP candidates were also defeated.

Results

[1] [8]

Elections to the 24th Parliament of Ontario (1951)
Political partyParty leaderMPPsVotes
Candidates 1948 Dissol. 1951±#%± (pp)
Progressive Conservative Leslie Frost 9053537926Increase2.svg860,93948.467.18Increase2.svg
Liberal Walter Thomson 88131376Decrease2.svg551,75331.061.72Increase2.svg
Liberal–Labour 21117,9390.45
Co-operative Commonwealth Ted Jolliffe 772121219Decrease2.svg339,36219.107.42Decrease2.svg
Labor–Progressive Stewart Smith 62211Decrease2.svg11,9140.670.33Decrease2.svg
Independent 41,8690.110.01Increase2.svg
Independent Labour 11,3750.080.07Increase2.svg
Independent PC21,0940.060.13Decrease2.svg
Socialist Labour 13710.020.03Decrease2.svg
Total2719090901,776,616100.00%
Blank and invalid ballots23,834
Registered voters / turnout2,745,70965.57%2.09Decrease2.svg
Seats and popular vote by party
PartySeatsVotesChange (pp)
  Progressive Conservative
79 / 90
48.46%
7.187.18
 
  Liberal/Liberal-Labour
8 / 90
31.51%
1.721.72
 
  Co-operative Commonwealth
2 / 90
19.10%
-7.42
 
 Other
1 / 90
0.93%
-1.48
 

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1951 Ontario general election [1] [8]
RidingWinning partyTurnout
[a 1]
Votes
Name [a 2] 1948 PartyVotesShareMargin
#
Margin
%
PCLib/LLCCFLab-PrI-PCI-LabIndS-LabTotal
 
Addington PCPC7,03556.04%2,32818.55%73.26%7,0354,70781112,553
Algoma—Manitoulin PCPC5,71847.18%1,1389.39%68.95%5,7184,5801,82212,120
Brant LibLib8,21847.49%1,79510.37%70.36%6,4238,2182,66517,306
Brantford LibLib7,28938.45%1,2496.59%73.74%5,6307,2896,04018,959
Bruce LibPC7,36948.93%6524.33%77.21%7,3696,71797315,059
Carleton PCPC10,86359.00%5,39829.32%64.28%10,8635,4651,13894518,411
Cochrane North PCPC4,00940.28%4614.63%66.79%4,0093,5482,3959,952
Cochrane South CCFCCF10,23340.82%1,6066.41%69.52%8,6275,39110,23382025,071
Dufferin—Simcoe PCPC7,53558.33%2,96622.96%62.52%7,5354,56981412,918
Durham PCPC7,38951.79%2,27915.97%76.75%7,3895,1101,76914,268
Elgin PCPC10,50155.08%3,36717.66%69.74%10,5017,1341,43019,065
Essex North CCFLib10,05139.85%2,2438.89%70.07%7,80810,0517,36225,221
Essex South PCPC9,79764.50%5,26634.67%66.29%9,7974,53186115,189
Fort William LibPC8,05742.60%7223.82%72.57%8,0577,3353,15736618,915
Glengarry PCPC5,29855.23%1,00310.46%76.01%5,2984,2959,593
Grenville—Dundas PCPC7,79766.01%3,78332.03%56.63%7,7974,014011,811
Grey North PCPC9,06858.74%4,81331.18%74.85%9,0684,2552,11515,438
Grey South LibLib6,25649.44%9397.42%76.75%5,3176,2561,08012,653
Haldimand—Norfolk PCPC11,29851.58%2,43011.09%69.31%11,2988,8681,73921,905
Halton PCPC9,06351.61%2,76215.73%67.60%9,0636,3012,19717,561
Hamilton East CCFPC9,33644.36%1,8508.79%51.77%9,3364,2247,48621,046
Hamilton Centre CCFPC7,75342.44%1,5778.63%61.16%7,7534,3416,17618,270
Hamilton—Wentworth PCPC11,86555.58%6,80031.85%63.10%11,8655,0654,41721,347
Hastings East*PCPC6,29456.76%2,19819.82%72.42%6,2944,09669911,089
Hastings West PCPC10,29955.37%3,27917.63%70.78%10,2997,0201,28318,602
Huron PCPC8,00554.88%1,4249.76%80.51%8,0056,58114,586
Huron—Bruce PCPC7,43158.48%2,15516.96%76.89%7,4315,27612,707
Kenora PCLL4,77643.58%1331.21%66.00%4,6434,7761,54110,960
Kent East LibPC6,89156.75%1,64013.51%72.82%6,8915,251012,142
Kent West PCPC12,19455.26%3,85817.48%68.55%12,1948,3361,53622,066
Kingston*PCPC9,92457.34%3,51820.33%74.21%9,9246,40697817,308
Lambton East PCPC6,61058.35%1,89116.69%67.25%6,6104,71911,329
Lambton West PCPC10,81459.13%5,98332.72%64.16%10,8144,8312,64218,287
Lanark PCPC12,07177.56%9,10958.53%70.02%12,0712,96253115,564
Leeds PCPC10,65861.01%3,84822.03%74.32%10,6586,81017,468
Lincoln PCPC15,47745.61%5,88717.35%65.01%15,4779,5908,03283433,933
London LibPC13,92647.38%3,11210.59%61.06%13,92610,8144,65529,395
Middlesex North PCPC8,60749.29%2,98117.07%57.63%8,6075,6263,22917,462
Middlesex South PCPC8,46158.27%3,32422.89%65.08%8,4615,13792214,520
Muskoka—Ontario PCPC9,37054.17%2,80716.23%73.86%9,3706,5631,36417,297
Niagara Falls LibLib10,20948.79%3,26315.59%61.57%6,94610,2093,76920,924
Nipissing PCPC8,21946.73%1,4098.01%65.11%8,2196,8102,56117,590
Northumberland PCPC10,14062.43%4,03924.87%78.11%10,1406,10116,241
Ontario CCFCCF12,05440.17%2,1787.26%71.44%9,8767,80612,05426830,004
Ottawa East LibLib10,72250.08%2,27510.63%58.34%8,44710,7222,24221,411
Ottawa South PCPC19,90855.98%7,46420.99%59.72%19,90812,4443,21235,564
Oxford PCPC10,02645.17%1960.88%68.16%10,0269,8302,33822,194
Parry Sound PCPC6,34860.24%2,15820.48%68.87%6,3484,19010,538
Peel PCPC12,52856.61%6,81730.80%66.22%12,5285,7113,89322,132
Perth PCPC11,69750.21%2,57711.06%69.05%11,6979,1202,47723,294
Peterborough PCPC14,44258.48%6,80227.54%67.14%14,4427,6402,61424,696
Port Arthur CCFPC7,75837.38%1,5867.64%63.89%7,7585,4476,1721,375 [a 3] 20,752
Prescott PCPC7,04657.11%1,96015.89%76.77%7,0465,0865614912,337
Prince Edward—Lennox LibPC7,56554.30%1,1978.59%100.23%7,5656,36813,933
Rainy River LLPC3,63344.04%4705.70%72.52%3,6333,1631,4548,250
Renfrew North PCPC7,76957.93%2,12715.86%67.59%7,7695,64213,411
Renfrew South PCPC6,87556.00%1,93715.78%68.97%6,8754,93846312,276
Russell PCPC6,94644.31%100.06%55.68%6,9466,9361,79415,676
Sault Ste. Marie CCFPC7,35939.42%1,3087.01%71.24%7,3596,0515,25718,667
Simcoe Centre PCPC7,72157.03%1,90314.06%62.02%7,7215,81813,539
Simcoe East PCPC8,63455.91%3,56523.08%72.59%8,6345,0691,74115,444
Stormont PCLib9,38350.32%1,6809.01%70.95%7,7039,3831,56018,646
Sudbury PCPC14,05644.91%2,4187.73%65.77%14,05611,6385,60531,299
Temiskaming CCFPC4,32839.53%6636.05%73.61%4,3282,9573,66510,950
Victoria PCPC12,42381.02%9,51262.03%69.66%12,4232,91115,334
Waterloo North LibPC9,87335.22%1610.57%58.54%9,8739,7128,44528,030
Waterloo South CCFPC8,23940.57%1,2496.15%68.30%8,2395,0786,99020,307
Welland LibPC10,39040.27%4821.87%68.83%10,3909,9084,70979125,798
Wellington North LibPC7,15949.85%6024.19%75.90%7,1596,55764514,361
Wellington South PCPC8,20843.65%2,23511.88%71.77%8,2085,9734,62518,806
Wentworth CCFPC11,00437.97%4081.41%53.08%11,0047,38310,59628,983
Windsor—Walkerville PCPC8,85848.60%3,80120.86%66.24%8,8583,4515,05785918,225
Windsor—Sandwich PCPC11,66653.32%6,50129.71%63.81%11,6665,0505,16521,881
York East CCFPC30,94447.78%8,70813.45%56.23%30,94411,58122,23664,761
York North PCPC19,51849.00%8,15920.48%59.64%19,51811,3598,95539,832
York South CCFPC13,76039.61%5141.48%58.74%13,7606,87013,24686734,743
York West CCFPC24,61447.62%7,57314.65%65.39%24,61410,03417,04151,689
Beaches CCFPC9,90449.28%2,67913.33%66.15%9,9042,9707,22520,099
Bellwoods Lab-PrPC5,57133.39%2981.79%64.56%5,5715,2732,4833,35716,684
Bracondale CCFPC6,21342.17%1,72011.67%59.11%6,2134,0284,49314,734
Dovercourt CCFPC8,59538.98%4622.10%59.97%8,5955,3218,13322,049
Eglinton PCPC21,87665.20%14,78344.06%66.98%21,8767,0934,58533,554
High Park CCFPC10,36044.30%2,39910.26%67.71%10,3605,0657,96123,386
Parkdale CCFPC10,91442.58%2,5019.76%61.82%10,9146,3048,41325,631
Riverdale CCFPC10,73645.57%3,57015.15%60.36%10,7365,2857,16637123,558
St. Andrew Lab-PrLab-Pr5,22038.85%1,36510.16%56.64%3,8552,0461,9155,22040113,437
St. David CCFPC6,88040.64%1,2327.28%57.90%6,8804,4015,64816,929
St. George PCPC10,33356.86%5,90432.49%54.42%10,3333,4104,42918,172
St. Patrick PCPC7,40057.97%4,49635.22%53.52%7,4002,4622,90412,766
Woodbine CCFPC10,44543.97%1,1674.91%61.78%10,4454,0309,27823,753
  1. including spoilt ballots
  2. order is as given in EO reports
  3. Bruce Magnuson, who later became the Labor-Progressive leader in Ontario in 1956
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = other incumbents renominated
  = campaigned as a Liberal-Labour candidate

Analysis

Party candidates in 2nd place
Party in 1st placeParty in 2nd placeTotal
PCLibLLCCF
Progressive Conservative 5712179
Liberal 617
Liberal–Labour 11
Co-operative Commonwealth 22
Labor–Progressive 11
Total105712290
Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party
Parties1st2nd3rd4th5thTotal
  Progressive Conservative 7910190
  Liberal 7572488
  Co-operative Commonwealth 22250377
  Liberal–Labour 112
  Labor–Progressive 1146
 Independent PC112
  Independent 314
  Independent Labour 11
  Socialist Labour 11
Resulting composition of the 24th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
SourceParty
PCLibL-LCCFLab-PrTotal
Seats retainedIncumbents returned44521
Open seats held7
Seats changing handsIncumbents defeated262
Open seats gained21
Total79712190

Seats that changed hands

Elections to the 24th Parliament of Ontario – seats won/lost by party, 1948–1951
Party1948Gain from (loss to)1951
PCLibCCFLbr-PL-L
Progressive Conservative 538(1)18179
Liberal 131(8)17
Co-operative Commonwealth 21(18)(1)2
Labor–Progressive 2(1)1
Liberal–Labour 11(1)1
Total902(28)8(2)19190

There were 29 seats that changed allegiance in the election.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "1951 Ontario general election". Elections Ontario. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  2. The Active Service Election Act, 1945 , S.O. 1945 (1st sess.), c. 1
  3. The Active Service Election Act, 1951 , S.O. 1951, c. 1
  4. The Election Act, 1951 , S.O. 1951, c. 21
  5. The Voters' Lists Act, 1951 , S.O. 1951, c. 93
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Canadian conservatives gaining in popularity". The Calgary Herald. October 27, 1951. p. 11.
  7. 1 2 "Survey indicates CCF slipping in Ontario". The Calgary Herald. June 8, 1951. p. 5.
  8. 1 2 Significant EO data transcription errors corrected, using "Results By Constituencies In Ontario Provincial Elections". Ottawa Citizen . November 23, 1951. p. 3.