1951 Prince Edward Island general election

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

1951 Prince Edward Island general election

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 Popular vote 40,847 36,921 Percentage 51.6% 46.7% Swing 1.3pp 1.4pp
Premier before election J. Walter Jones Liberal Premier after election J. Walter Jones Liberal

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

↓

24	6
Liberal	PC

Party		Party Leader	Seats			Popular Vote
			1947	Elected	Change	#	%	Change
	Liberal	J. Walter Jones	24	24	±0	40,847	51.6%	+1.3%
	Progressive Conservative	Reginald Bell	6	6	±0	36,921	46.7%	+1.4%
	Co-operative Commonwealth		-	-	-	1,336	1.7%	-2.6%

Popular vote Liberal   51.64% PC   46.67% CCF   1.69%

Seats summary Liberal   80.00% PC   20.00%

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

District	Assemblyman		Party	Councillor		Party
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

District	Assemblyman		Party	Councillor		Party
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

District	Assemblyman		Party	Councillor		Party
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.