1953 British Guiana general election
27 April 1953
24 of the 28 seats in the House of Assembly
15 seats needed for a majority
Turnout74.77%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Cheddi Jagan Rudy Kendall
Party PPP NDP
Leader since 1 January 1950 1953
Leader's seat Corentyne Coast New Amsterdam
Seats won 18 2
Popular vote 77,695 20,032
Percentage 51.04% 13.16%
Chief Minister before election

None

 Elected Chief Minister

Cheddi Jagan
PPP

General elections were held in British Guiana on 27 April 1953.[1] They were the first held under universal suffrage and resulted in a victory for the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which won 18 of the 24 seats in the new House of Assembly. Its leader, Cheddi Jagan, became Prime Minister.[1]

Electoral system

Constitutional reforms as a result of the Waddington Commission had led to the creation of the House of Assembly to replace the Legislative Council. The new House had 28 members; 24 members elected in single member constituencies, a speaker appointed by the Governor and three ex officio members (the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General and the Financial Secretary).[2]

Campaign

The PPP ran candidates in 22 of the 24 constituencies, failing to contest the two interior constituencies due to a lack of money. The National Democratic Party contested 15 constituencies and the People's National Party eight.[3] A total of 85 independents,[4] including four United Guiana Party candidates, also contested the elections.[3] The United Workers and Farmers Party did run as a party, but contested some seats as independents.[3]

Results

PartyVotes%Seats
People's Progressive Party77,69551.0418
National Democratic Party20,03213.162
People's National Party3,0001.970
Independents51,50433.834
Total152,231100.0024
Valid votes152,23197.44
Invalid/blank votes3,9952.56
Total votes156,226100.00
Registered voters/turnout208,93974.77
Source: GECOM

Elected members

ConstituencyMemberPartyNotes
1 – North WestWilliam Alfred PhangIndependent
2 – PomeroonThomas Sherwood WheatingIndependent
3 – Western EssequiboJanet JaganPeople's Progressive PartyDeputy Speaker
4 – Essequibo IslandsTheophilus LeeIndependent
5 – Bartica and InteriorEugene Francis CorreiaNational Democratic Party
6 – Demerara-EssequiboFred BowmanPeople's Progressive Party
7 – West Bank DemeraraJai Narine SinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Local Government and Social Welfare
8 – East Bank DemeraraJoseph Prayag LachhmansinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Health and Housing
9 – Upper Demerara RiverCharles Albert CarterIndependent
10 – Georgetown SouthAshton ChasePeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Labour, Industry and Commerce
11 – Georgetown South CentralClinton Reginald WongPeople's Progressive Party
12 – Georgetown CentralJessie BurnhamPeople's Progressive Party
13 – Georgetown NorthFrank Obermuller van SertimaPeople's Progressive Party
14 – Georgetown North-EastForbes BurnhamPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Education
15 – West Central DemeraraRam KarranPeople's Progressive Party
16 – Central DemeraraSydney Evanson KingPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Communications and Works
17 – East Central DemeraraJane Phillips-GayPeople's Progressive Party
18 – Mahaica-MahaiconyChandra Sama PersaudPeople's Progressive Party
19 – Western BerbiceSamuel Mahabali LatchmansinghPeople's Progressive Party
20 – New AmsterdamRudy KendallNational Democratic Party
21 – Berbice RiverAjodha SinghPeople's Progressive Party
22 – Eastern BerbiceRobert Stanley Hanoman SinghPeople's Progressive Party
23 – Corentyne CoastCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive PartyLeader of the House and Minister of Agriculture, Forests, Lands and Mines
24 – Corentyne RiverMohamed KhanPeople's Progressive Party

Aftermath

After assuming power Jagan embarked on implementing a series of policies that involved radical social reform, mainly directed at the colonial oligarchy. The British colonial authorities sent in troops in response to the alleged threat of a Marxist revolution. Governor Alfred Savage suspended the constitution in October (only 133 days after it had come into force) and set up a transitional government of conservative politicians, businessmen and civil servants.[1] Writing in The Guardian in 2020, Gaiutra Bahadur said that "the overthrow of Guyana’s ruling party by colonial forces fomented a racial divide that continues to blight its politics", saying that there was a greater crackdown on the Afro-Guyanese than on the Indo-Guyanese, in a deliberate and successful attempt to divide the PPP.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p354 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ↑ Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of Guyana
  3. 1 2 3 The election campaign in 1953 Guyana News and Information
  4. ↑ 1953 Election Archived 2016-06-16 at the Wayback Machine GECOM
  5. ↑ "In 1953, Britain openly removed an elected government, with tragic consequences | Gaiutra Bahadur". the Guardian. October 30, 2020.
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