1955 Prince Edward Island general election

May 25, 1955 (1955-05-25)

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
16 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
PC
Leader Alex W. Matheson Reginald Bell
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader since 1953 1950
Leader's seat 4th Kings 2nd Queens
Last election 24 seats, 51.6% 6 seats, 46.7%
Seats won 27 3
Seat change Increase3 Decrease3
Popular vote 44,918 36,705
Percentage 55.0% 45.0%
Swing Increase3.4pp Decrease1.7pp

Premier before election

Alex W. Matheson
Liberal

Premier after election

Alex W. Matheson
Liberal

The 1955 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on May 25, 1955.[1]

The governing Liberals of Premier Alex W. Matheson increased their majority in the Legislature, winning three more seats over the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Reginald Bell, who would resign as leader in 1957 following this election. Matheson took over as premier from his predecessor J. Walter Jones in May 1953 following his appointment to the Senate.

This election marked the first and only time (as of 2016) that a party has won six consecutive general elections on Prince Edward Island.

Party Standings

27 3
Liberal PC
Party Party Leader Seats Popular Vote
1951 Elected Change # % Change
  Liberal Alex W. Matheson 24 27 +3 44,918 55.0% +3.4%
  Progressive Conservative Reginald Bell 6 3 -3 36,705 45.0% -1.7%
Popular vote
Liberal
55.03%
PC
44.97%
Seats summary
Liberal
90.00%
PC
10.00%

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.[2]

Kings

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Kings     William Acorn Liberal     Brenton St. John Liberal
2nd Kings     Harvey Douglas Liberal     Leo Rossiter Progressive
Conservative
3rd Kings     Joseph Campbell Liberal     Keir Clark Liberal
4th Kings     Lorne Bonnell Liberal     Alexander Wallace Matheson Liberal
5th Kings     Stephen Hessian Liberal     George Saville Liberal

Queens

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Queens     Frederic Large Liberal     W. F. Alan Stewart Liberal

Progressive
Conservative

2nd Queens     George Kitson Liberal     Reginald Bell Progressive
Conservative
3rd Queens     Russell C. Clark Liberal     Eugene Cullen Liberal
4th Queens     Dougald MacKinnon Liberal     Harold P. Smith Liberal
5th Queens     Earle MacDonald Liberal     Alex MacIsaac Liberal

Prince

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Prince     Prosper Arsenault Liberal     Fred Ramsay Liberal
2nd Prince     George Dewar Progressive
Conservative
    Forrest Phillips Liberal
3rd Prince     Augustin Gallant Liberal     Frank MacNutt Liberal
4th Prince     J. George MacKay Liberal    
Cleveland Baker Liberal
5th Prince     Edward P. Foley Liberal     Morley Bell Liberal

Sources

  1. "Provincial General Election Results, 1955" (PDF). Elections PEI. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2015.
  2. Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.
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