1959 Newfoundland general election

1959 Newfoundland general election

←  1956 August 20, 1959 1962  →
36 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 19 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	69.3% ( 8.3% pp) [1]
First party Second party   PC Leader Joey Smallwood Malcolm Hollett Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1949 1953 Leader's seat St. John's West [a] St. John's West (lost re-election) Last election 32 4 Seats won 31 3 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 75,560 33,002 Percentage 58.0% 25.3% Swing 8.3pp 7.3pp   Third party Fourth party   UNP NDP Leader James Higgins Ed Finn Party United Newfoundland Party Newfoundland Democratic Party Leader since 1959 1959 Leader's seat St. John's East (lost re-election) Ran in Humber West (lost) Last election pre-creation pre-creation Seats won 2 0 Seat change 2 Popular vote 10,639 9,352 Percentage 8.1% 7.2% Swing pre-creation pre-creation
Premier before election Joey Smallwood Liberal Premier after election Joey Smallwood Liberal

The 1959 Newfoundland general election was held on 20 August 1959 to elect members of the 32nd General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal party.

Results

	Party	Leader	1956	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Liberal	Joey Smallwood	32	31	-3.1%	75,560	58.0%
	Progressive Conservative	Malcolm Hollett	4	3	-25%	33,002	25.3%
	United Newfoundland	James Higgins	–	2	N/A	10,639	8.1%
	Newfoundland Democratic Party [b]	Ed Finn	0	0	0%	9,352	7.2%
	Other		0	0	0%	1,772	1.3%
Totals			36	36	–	131,148	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		United (historical)		NDP
St. John's Centre 60.74% turnout				Frank Fogwill 2,631 45.41%		Augustine Duffy 2,860 49.36%		Larry Daley 303 5.23%		Augustine Duffy
St. John's East 71.88% turnout				James Greene 2,949 51.28%		James Higgins 2,802 48.72%				James Higgins
St. John's North 76.19% turnout		George Nightingale 3,056 56.76%		Leslie Marshall 1,910 35.48%		Harvey Cole 418 7.76%				George Nightingale
St. John's South 68.94% turnout				Rex Renouf 2,859 47.09%		John O'Dea 2,997 49.37%		Charles Devine 215 3.54%		Rex Renouf
St. John's West 89.98% turnout		Joey Smallwood 4,243 65.64%		Malcolm Hollett 2,221 34.36%						Malcolm Hollett

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		United (historical)		NDP
Bell Island 75.93% turnout		Joseph O'Driscoll 1,385 39.82%		Richard Greene 1,631 46.89%				Steve Neary 462 13.28%		Joseph O'Driscoll
Carbonear-Bay de Verde 44.14% turnout		George Clarke 2,359 82.63%				James Evans 496 17.37%				George Clarke
Harbour Grace 63.92% turnout		Claude Sheppard 1,834 70.11%		George Broomfield 703 26.87%		George Sweetapple 79 3.02%				Claude Sheppard
Harbour Main		Philip J. Lewis 2,212 29.82%		Albert Furey 1,827 24.63%		James Miller 343 4.62%		Alphonsus Dunphy 173 2.33%		Philip Lewis
		Matthew Whelan 1,476 19.90%		John Halley 1,386 18.69%						Matthew Whelan
Port de Grave 58.90% turnout		Llewellyn Strange 1,703 67.10%		Richard Parsons 835 32.90%						Llewellyn Strange

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Ferryland 77.22% turnout		Myles Murray 1,676 59.06%		Otto Byrne 1,162 40.94%				Myles Murray
Placentia East 75.16% turnout		Alain Frecker 1,578 54.19%		William Patterson 1,217 41.79%		Esau Thoms 117 4.02%		Greg Power†
St. Mary's 77.58% turnout		James M. McGrath 1,017 57.23%		Thomas Howley 760 42.77%				James M. McGrath
Trinity South		Uriah Strickland Won by acclamation						Samuel Hefferton†

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP		Other
Bonavista North 65.18% turnout		Edward Spencer 3,399 80.51%		Samuel King 474 11.23%		Kitchener Pritchett 349 8.27%				Joey Smallwood ‡ (ran in St. John's West)
Bonavista South 57.67% turnout		Rossy Barbour 2,951 73.83%		Gerald Hayley 932 23.32%				Albert Keel (Independent) 114 2.85%		Uriah Strickland‡ (ran in Trinity South)
Fogo 60.47% turnout		Isaac Mercer 2,551 77.73%		Whitfield Bannister 422 12.86%		Roosevelt Wellon 309 9.41%				Isaac Mercer
Trinity North 56.31% turnout		Arthur Mifflin 3,038 88.65%		Milton Moores 547 14.15%				Sam Drover (Independent) 619 16.01%		Arthur Mifflin

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates										Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		United (historical)		NDP		Other
Gander 72.85% turnout		Beaton Abbott 4,037 70.64%		Robert Taylor 639 11.18%						James Mullett (Independent) 1,039 18.18%		Beaton Abbott
Grand Falls 71.57% turnout		Raymond Guy 3,636 80.85%				Stedman Inder 397 8.83%		James Hannaford 464 10.32%				Edward Spencer‡ (ran in Bonavista North)
Green Bay 82.10% turnout		William Smallwood 2,529 78.61%		Roy Manuel 497 15.45%						Cyril Pelley (Independent) 191 5.94%		William Smallwood
Twillingate 71.10% turnout		Leslie Curtis 2,692 76.96%		Job Kean 237 6.78%				Raymond Rogers 569 16.27%				Leslie Curtis
White Bay South 84.77% turnout		Frederick W. Rowe 1,736 79.67%						John O'Brien 443 20.33%				Frederick W. Rowe

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		NDP
Burgeo-La Poile 61.58% turnout		John Cheeseman 2,458 79.42%		Allan Evans 637 20.58%				John Cheeseman
Burin 62.73% turnout		Eric Jones 2,782 79.35%		Henry Butler 442 12.61%		Cyril Strong 282 8.04%		Eric Jones
Fortune and Hermitage 63.07% turnout		John Courage 2,884 75.24%		Eric Hiscock 637 24.76%				John Courage
Placentia West 67.16% turnout		Patrick Canning 2,307 69.55%		Joseph Cheeseman 1,010 30.45%				Patrick Canning

Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		United (historical)		NDP
Humber East 77.46% turnout		John Forsey 2,907 55.19%		Thomas Cahill 992 18.83%				Joseph Chaulk 1,368 25.97%		John Forsey
Humber West 75.21% turnout		Charles Ballam 3,101 55.64%		Fred Clarke 696 12.49%				Ed Finn 1,776 31.87%		Charles Ballam
Port au Port 81.97% turnout		Stephen Smith 2,014 61.16%		Michael Singleton 815 24.75%				Ambrose Rice 464 14.09%		Stephen Smith
St. Barbe 83.53% turnout		James Chalker 2,272 65.76%		Wallace Maynard 515 14.91%				John McCool 668 19.33%		James Chalker
St. George's 81.79% turnout		William Keough 1,896 63.67%		Alphonsus Pittman 608 20.42%		Richard White 247 8.29%		Gerald P. Byrne 227 7.62%		William Keough
White Bay North 76.40% turnout		Maxwell Lane 2,399 88.69%		Robert Gillard 265 9.80%				Edgar Richards 41 1.52%		Maxwell Lane

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Labrador North 71.03% turnout		Earl Winsor 832 80.39%		William Moss 203 19.61%		Earl Winsor
Labrador South 70.86% turnout		George Sellars 1,061 90.84%		Roderick Roberts 107 9.16%		George Sellars

Notes

1. Not the incumbent, but stood in this seat and won
2. The Newfoundland Democratic Party was founded by the Newfoundland Federation of Labour to run candidates as a protest against the Liberal government's decertification of the International Woodworkers of America in the course of the Newfoundland Loggers' Strike. This party was supported by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The party went on to become the Newfoundland New Democratic Party in 1961.

References

1. "Report on Provincial General Election, 1959". The Newfoundland Gazette. November 17, 1959. Retrieved April 11, 2025.

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #32: August 29, 1959". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved April 11, 2025.