Prince Edward Island general election, 1951

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Prince Edward Island general election, 1951
Flag of Prince Edward Island.svg
  1947 April 26, 1951 (1951-04-26) 1955  

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
16 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  John Walter Jones.jpg
PC
Leader J. Walter Jones Reginald Bell
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader since19431950
Leader's seat 4th Queens 2nd Queens
Last election24 seats, 50.3%6 seats, 45.3%
Seats won246
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote40,84736,921
Percentage51.6%46.7%
SwingIncrease2.svg1.3pp Increase2.svg1.4pp

Premier before election

J. Walter Jones
Liberal

Premier-designate

J. Walter Jones
Liberal

The 1951 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on April 26, 1951. [1]

Canada Country in North America

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres, making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Canada's southern border with the United States, stretching some 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the world's longest bi-national land border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. As a whole, Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land area being dominated by forest and tundra. Consequently, its population is highly urbanized, with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, with 70% of citizens residing within 100 kilometres (62 mi) of the southern border. Canada's climate varies widely across its vast area, ranging from arctic weather in the north, to hot summers in the southern regions, with four distinct seasons.

Prince Edward Island Province of Canada

Prince Edward Island is a province of Canada consisting of the Atlantic island of the same name along with several much smaller islands nearby. PEI is one of the three Maritime Provinces. It is the smallest province of Canada in both land area and population, but it is the most densely populated. Part of the traditional lands of the Mi'kmaq, it became a British colony in the 1700s and was federated into Canada as a province in 1873. Its capital is Charlottetown. According to the 2016 census, the province of PEI has 142,907 residents.

Contents

The governing Liberals of Premier J. Walter Jones held on to their majority in the Legislature over the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Reginald Bell, who was elected leader of the party in 1950. Both parties kept the same number of seats they earned in the previous election, though eight seats did change hands.

In Canada, a premier is the head of government of a province or territory. Though the word is merely a synonym for prime minister, it is employed for provincial prime ministers to differentiate them from the Prime Minister of Canada. There are currently 10 provincial premiers and three territorial premiers. These persons are styled The Honourable only while in office, unless they are admitted to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, in which case they retain the title even after leaving the premiership.

John Walter Jones Canadian politician

John Walter Jones was a politician and farmer in Prince Edward Island, Canada. An agronomist, he was instrumental in introducing the potato crop to the island, which was to become a staple of the economy. In 1935, he received the King George V medal as the best farmer in the province.

A majority government refers to one or multiple governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats.

The democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation fell back from their previous high in 1947, losing over half of their vote. This would be the last election contested by the CCF or any third party in provincial PEI elections until the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party, ran in by-elections in 1972.

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation former political party in Canada

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was a social-democratic and democratic socialist political party in Canada. The CCF was founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, agrarian, co-operative, and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction. In 1944, the CCF formed the first social-democratic government in North America when it was elected to form the provincial government in Saskatchewan. In 1961, the CCF was succeeded by the New Democratic Party (NDP). The full, but little used, name of the party was Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Farmer-Labour-Socialist).

The New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and a branch of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP).

This election featured the first female candidate for office, Hilda Ramsay, who came in third while running for the CCF as Councillor in 3rd Prince. [2]

3rd Prince

3rd Prince was an electoral district in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, which elected two members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 1873 to 1993.

Party Standings

246
LiberalPC
PartyParty LeaderSeatsPopular Vote
1947ElectedChange#%Change
  Liberal J. Walter Jones 2424±040,84751.6%+1.3%
  Progressive Conservative Reginald Bell 66±036,92146.7%+1.4%
  Co-operative Commonwealth ---1,3361.7%-2.6%

Members Elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district. [3]

Kings

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Kings    William Acorn Liberal    Brenton St. John Liberal
2nd Kings    Harvey Douglas Liberal    Thomas R. Cullen Liberal
3rd Kings    John A. MacDonald Progressive
Conservative
   Keir Clark Liberal
4th Kings    Lorne Bonnell Liberal    Alexander Wallace Matheson Liberal
5th Kings    William Hughes Liberal    George Saville Liberal

Queens

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Queens    Frank Myers Progressive
Conservative
   W. F. Alan Stewart Liberal
2nd Queens    George Kitson Liberal    Reginald Bell Progressive
Conservative
3rd Queens    Russell C. Clark Liberal    Eugene Cullen Liberal
4th Queens    Dougald MacKinnon Liberal    John Walter Jones Liberal
5th Queens    Earle MacDonald Liberal    William J. P. MacMillan Progressive
Conservative

Prince

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Prince    Hubert Gaudet Progressive
Conservative
   Don Campbell Progressive
Conservative
2nd Prince    Walter Darby Liberal    Forrest Phillips Liberal
3rd Prince    J. Wilfred Arsenault Liberal    Frank MacNutt Liberal
4th Prince    J. George MacKay Liberal   
Cleveland Baker Liberal
5th Prince    Edward P. Foley Liberal    Lorne H. MacFarlane Liberal

Sources

  1. "Provincial General Election Results, 1951" (PDF). Elections PEI.
  2. "Women in Politics". Elections PEI.
  3. Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.

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