1953 Canadian federal election

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1953 Canadian federal election
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg
  1949 August 10, 1953 1957  

265 seats in the House of Commons
133 seats needed for a majority
Turnout67.5% [1] (Decrease2.svg6.3pp)
 First partySecond party
  Louis St. Laurent portrait.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 election19141
Seats won16951
Seat changeDecrease2.svg22Increase2.svg10
Popular vote2,731,6331,749,579
Percentage48.43%31.02%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.72pp Increase2.svg1.37pp

 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 election1310
Seats won2315
Seat changeIncrease2.svg10Increase2.svg5
Popular vote636,310304,553
Percentage11.28%5.40%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.14pp Increase2.svg3.09pp

1953 Canadian General Election.svg
Canada 1953 Federal Election.svg

Chambre des Communes 1953.png
The Canadian parliament after the 1953 election

Prime Minister before election

Louis St. Laurent
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

Louis St. Laurent
Liberal

The 1953 Canadian federal election was held on August 10, 1953, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent led his Liberal Party of Canada to its second consecutive majority government, although the party lost seats to the other parties.

Contents

The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Premier of Ontario, George Drew, formed the official opposition, but for the last time until 1993, the party was unable to win the popular vote in any of Canada's provinces or territories.

This was the last election until 1988 in which any party won back-to-back majorities, and the last until 1997 in which the Liberals would accomplish this feat. This election is the last time that the Liberals would win more seats in Alberta than the largest right-of-centre party in Canada, and the last time they would win more seats than the Tories in Alberta until 1993.

National results

See also Results of the 1953 Canadian federal election

1953 Canadian parliament.svg
PartyParty leader# of
candidates
SeatsPopular vote
1949 Elected% Change#% pp Change
  Liberal Louis St. Laurent 262191169-11.5%2,731,63348.43%-0.72
  Progressive Conservative George Drew 2484151+24.4%1,749,57931.02%+1.37
  Co-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell 1701323+76.9%636,31011.28%-2.14
Social Credit Solon Low 711015+50%304,5535.40%+3.09
 Independent1443-25.0%58,4581.04%-1.01
 Independent Liberal1912+100%68,5061.21%+0.69
  Liberal-Labour 1 111-11,3800.20%-
Liberal–Progressive  111-8,9580.16%-
Labor–Progressive Tim Buck 100---59,6221.06%+0.50
 Nationalist Adrien Arcand 1*-*7,4960.13%*
 Independent Progressive Conservative3---1,6360.03%-0.11
  Christian Liberal  1*-*1,5050.03%*
 Independent Social Credit1---4220.01%-0.07
 Locataire (candidat) 1*-*4170.01%*
  Anti-Communist  1*-*3330.01%*
  Socialist Labour  1---130xx
Total897262265+1.1%5,640,938100% 
Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867 Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine

Notes:

* - not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

1 The Liberal-Labour MP sat with the Liberal caucus.

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote
Liberal
48.43%
PC
31.02%
CCF
11.28%
Social Credit
5.40%
Others
3.87%
Seat totals
Liberal
64.15%
PC
19.24%
CCF
8.67%
Social Credit
5.66%
Others
2.26%

Results by province

Party name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL NW YK Total
  Liberal Seats:845750667103711169
 Vote (%):30.935.137.337.046.061.052.753.051.167.249.478.748.4
  Progressive Conservative Seats:32133343110--51
 Vote (%):14.114.511.727.040.329.441.940.148.028.138.521.331.0
  Co-operative Commonwealth Seats:7-1131--1--  23
 Vote (%):26.66.944.223.611.11.53.06.70.80.6  11.3
  Social Credit Seats:411--- -     15
 Vote (%):26.140.75.36.30.3 0.4     5.4
 IndependentSeats: - --3   -- 3
 Vote (%): 0.1 0.20.33.0   4.012.4 1.0
 Independent LiberalSeats:   --2-     2
 Vote (%):   4.00.33.71.9     1.2
  Liberal–Labour Seats:    1       1
 Vote (%):    0.6       0.2
  Liberal-Progressive Seats:   1        1
 Vote (%):   3.3        0.2
Total Seats 22171714857510124711265
Parties that won no seats:
Labor–Progressive Vote (%):2.22.71.12.31.00.7 0.2    1.1
 NationalistVote (%):     0.5      0.1
 Independent PCVote (%):     0.1      xx
  Christian Liberal Vote (%):    0.1       xx
Independent Social CreditVote (%): 0.1          xx
 Locataire (candidat)Vote (%):     xx      xx
  Anti-Communist Vote (%):     xx      xx
  Socialist Labour Vote (%):    xx       xx

See also

References

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

Further reading