Prince Edward Island general election, 1951

Prince Edward Island general election, 1951

April 26, 1951 (1951-04-26)

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 16 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   PC Leader J. Walter Jones Reginald Bell Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1943 1950 Leader's seat 4th Queens 2nd Queens Last election 24 seats, 50.3% 6 seats, 45.3% Seats won 24 6 Seat change ±0 ±0 Popular vote 40,847 36,921 Percentage 51.6% 46.7% Swing +1.3pp +1.4pp

Premier before election J. Walter Jones Liberal Premier-designate J. Walter Jones Liberal

The 47th Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on April 26, 1951.^[1]

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.

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.

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]

Party Standings

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

Queens

Prince

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. 

Elections and referendums in Prince Edward Island
General elections	1873 1876 1879 1882 1886 1890 1893 1897 1900 1904 1908 1912 1915 1919 1923 1927 1931 1935 1939 1943 1947 1951 1955 1959 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2003 2007 2011 2015 next
Referendums	1878 1893 1898 1901 1913 1923 1929 1940 1948 1954 (May) 1954 (Nov) 1988 2005 2016
See also: List of Prince Edward Island by-elections