Newfoundland People's Party

Last updated
Newfoundland People's Party
Founded1907
Dissolved1923
Headquarters St. John's
Ideology Social democracy
Irish Catholic interests
Political position Centre-left

The Newfoundland People's Party was a political party in the Dominion of Newfoundland before it joined Canada.

Contents

The party was created by Attorney-General Edward Patrick Morris in 1907, when he split from the ruling Liberal Party to found his own political vehicle. The party tied with the Liberals in the 1908 election but, when no party was able to form a government, new elections were held which the People's Party won with 26 seats to 10 for the Liberals.

Morris and the People's Party were re-elected in the 1913 election, winning 16 seats compared to 7 for the Liberals and 8 for the Fishermen's Protective Union led by William Coaker.

In 1917, a wartime crisis over conscription resulted in Morris inviting the opposition parties to join in a National Government, which ruled for two years. Morris retired at the end of 1917, and was replaced as People's Party leader by Sir Michael Patrick Cashin. [1]

Cashin's government was defeated in the 1919 election by Richard Squires and his Liberal Reform Party (a merger between the Liberals and the FPU). In opposition, Cashin changed the name of the party to the Liberal-Labour-Progressive Party, which contested the 1923 election but disappeared afterwards. [2] Some members of that party joined Albert Hickman's new Liberal-Progressive Party, while others joined with Tories to form the Liberal-Conservative Progressive Party.

Although not a sectarian party, the People's Party and its immediate successor had their support concentrated among Catholic voters, particularly on the south coast of the island.

List of Leaders

Newfoundland People's Party

Liberal-Labour-Progressive Party of Newfoundland

See also

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The 1908 Newfoundland general election was held on 2 November 1908 to elect members of the 21st General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The seats were split evenly between the Liberal Party and the new Newfoundland People's Party formed by Edward Morris after he resigned from the Liberal government in 1907 and joined with the opposition. Robert Bond, the Liberal leader, asked the Governor William MacGregor to dissolve the assembly. MacGregor refused to do this and Bond resigned as Premier. The Governor asked Edward P. Morris to form a government. The assembly was not able to elect a speaker and, after the Governor was unable to convince the two party leaders to form a coalition government, the house of assembly was dissolved on April 9, 1909.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1923 Newfoundland general election</span>

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References

  1. "Newfoundland History, 1919-1928". www.ucs.mun.ca. Retrieved 2023-09-12.
  2. Baker, Melvin; Neary, Peter (2018-09-02). "Joseph Roberts Smallwood: A Biographical Sketch, 1900–1934". Newfoundland & Labrador Studies. 33 (2). ISSN   1715-1430.