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General elections were held in Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate in May 1957. A total of 39 seats were up for election, whilst another 12 paramount chiefs were indirectly elected.
The Sierra Leone People's Party led by Milton Margai won a majority of the elected seats, [1] and gained the support of all 12 chiefs and eight of the ten independents. [2] Margai led the country to independence in 1961.
Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sierra Leone People's Party | 75,575 | 46.13 | 24 | |
United Progressive Party | 20,935 | 12.78 | 5 | |
National Council | 2,984 | 1.82 | 0 | |
Labour Party | 1,128 | 0.69 | 0 | |
Sierra Leone Independence Movement | 1,126 | 0.69 | 0 | |
Independents | 62,086 | 37.90 | 10 | |
Paramount chiefs | 12 | |||
Total | 163,834 | 100.00 | 51 | |
Valid votes | 163,834 | 99.01 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 1,645 | 0.99 | ||
Total votes | 165,479 | 100.00 | ||
Registered voters/turnout | 494,917 | 33.44 | ||
Source: Nohlen et al. |
Electoral area | SLPP | UPP | NCSL | LP | SLIM | Independents | Total | Registered voters | Turnout | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | Seats | |||
Colony | 17,117 | 9 | 10,001 | 3 | 2,984 | 0 | 1,128 | 0 | 1,126 | 0 | 3,481 | 2 | 35,837 | 14 | 53,517 | |||||||
Protectorate (North) | 17,438 | 6 | 8,942 | 2 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 11,938 | 2 | 38,318 | 10 | 160,129 | ||||
Protectorate (South East) | 17,749 | 2 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 37,534 | 4 | 55,283 | 6 | 128,014 | |||
Protectorate (South West) | 23,271 | 8 | 1,992 | 0 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 10,778 | 1 | 36,041 | 9 | 153,227 | ||||
Total | 75,575 | 45.7 | 25 | 20,935 | 12.6 | 5 | 2,984 | 1.8 | 0 | 1,128 | 0.7 | 0 | 1,126 | 0.7 | 0 | 62,086 | 37.5 | 10 | 165,479 | 39 | 494,917 | 33.4 |
Source: Sternberger et al. [3] |
Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It shares its southeastern border with Liberia, and the northern half of the nation is surrounded by Guinea. Covering a total area of 71,740 km2 (27,699 sq mi), Sierra Leone has a tropical climate, with diverse environments ranging from savanna to rainforests. The country has a population of 7,092,113 as of the 2015 census. Freetown is the capital and largest city. The country is divided into five administrative regions, which are subdivided into 16 districts.
Sierra Leone first became inhabited by indigenous African peoples at least 2,500 years ago. The Limba were the first tribe known to inhabit Sierra Leone. The dense tropical rainforest partially isolated the region from other West African cultures, and it became a refuge for peoples escaping violence and jihads. Sierra Leone was named by Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra, who mapped the region in 1462. The Freetown estuary provided a good natural harbour for ships to shelter and replenish drinking water, and gained more international attention as coastal and trans-Atlantic trade supplanted trans-Saharan trade.
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