1959 Newfoundland general election

1959 Newfoundland general election
August 20, 1959
36 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly
19 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout69.3% (Increase 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 Decrease1 Decrease1
Popular vote 75,560 33,002
Percentage 58.0% 25.3%
Swing Decrease8.3pp Decrease7.3pp
  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 Increase2 Steady
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


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