1959 Newfoundland general election
← 1956 August 20, 1959 1962 →
36 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly
19 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
PC
UNP
Leader Joey Smallwood Malcolm Hollett James D. Higgins
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative United Newfoundland Party
Leader since 1949 1953 1959
Last election 32 4 pre-creation
Seats won 31 3 2
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease1 Increase2
Popular vote 75,560 33,002
Percentage 58.0% 25.3% 8.2%
Swing Decrease8.3pp Decrease7.3pp 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%
  Newfoundland Democratic Party* Ed Finn, Jr. 0 0 0% 9,352 7.2%
  United Newfoundland James D. Higgins - 2 N/A ** 8.2%
  Other 0 0 0% 12,411 1.3%
Totals 36 36 - 131,148 100%

*The CCF supported the Newfoundland Democratic Party which 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. The Newfoundland Democratic Party ran eighteen candidates, none of whom was elected. The party went on to become the Newfoundland New Democratic Party in 1961.

** United Newfoundland votes included in "other" total.

References


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