1953 Nova Scotia general election

1953 Nova Scotia general election
← 1949 May 26, 1953 1956 →
37 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
19 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.79% Decrease1.88pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
CCF
Leader Angus Lewis Macdonald Robert Stanfield Russell Cunningham
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since August 31, 1945 November 10, 1948 1945
Leader's seat Halifax South Colchester Cape Breton East
Last election 27 8 2
Seats won 23[1] 12 2
Seat change Decrease4 Increase4 Steady
Popular vote 169,894 149,973 23,700
Percentage 48.92% 43.18% 6.82%
Swing Decrease2.05pp Increase3.97pp Decrease2.78pp
Premier before election

Angus Lewis Macdonald
Liberal

Premier after election

Angus Lewis Macdonald
Liberal

The 1953 Nova Scotia general election was held on 26 May 1953 to elect members of the 45th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Liberal party.

Results

Results by party

↓
23 12 2
Liberal Progressive Conservative CCF
Official results [2]
Party Party leader # of
candidates 		Seats Popular vote
1949 Dissolution Elected Change # % Change (pp)
  Liberal Angus Lewis Macdonald 37 27 27 23 -4 169,894 48.92% –2.05%
  Progressive Conservative Robert Stanfield 37 8 8 12 +4 149,973 43.18% +3.97%
  Co-operative Commonwealth Russell Cunningham 16 2 2 2 0 23,700 6.82% –2.78%
  Independent 1 0 0 0 0 2,065 0.59% +0.37%
  Vacant 0  
Total valid votes 345,632 99.52% +0.06%
Blank and invalid ballots 1,658 0.48% –0.06%
Total 91 37 37 37 – 347,290 100.00% –
Registered voters / turnout 370,293 75.79%[3] -1.88%
Popular vote
Liberal
 
 48.92%
PC
 
 43.18%
CCF
 
 6.82%
Independent
 
 0.59%
Seats summary
Liberal
 
 62.16%
PC
 
 32.43%
CCF
 
 5.41%

Results by region

Party name HRM Cape Breton Annapolis Valley South Shore Fundy-Northeast Central Nova Total
Parties winning seats in the legislature
  Liberal Seats: 5 7 3 1 2 5 23
  Popular vote: 55.44% 46.98% 49.91% 45.58% 47.95% 49.25% 48.92%
  Progressive Conservative Seats: 0 0 3 5 4 0 12
  Popular vote: 40.96% 30.13% 50.09% 53.49% 49.56% 39.00% 43.18%
  Co-operative Commonwealth Seats: 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
  Popular vote: 3.60% 22.89% – 0.93% 2.49% 5.61% 6.82%
Parties not winning seats in the legislature
Independent Popular vote: – – – – – 6.14% 0.59%
Total seats: 5 9 6 6 6 5 37

Retiring incumbents

Progressive Conservative

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Liberal PC CCF Independent
Annapolis Henry Hicks
5,006
51.55% 		Charles F. LeBrun
4,705
48.45% 		Henry Hicks
Clare Pierre E. Belliveau
2,307
58.46% 		Desire J. Comeau
1,639
41.54% 		Desire J. Comeau
Digby Victor Cardoza
2,770
52.40% 		Malcolm Stewart Leonard
2,516
47.60% 		E. Keith Potter†
Hants West Ken Eisner
3,120
46.37% 		George Henry Wilson
3,608
53.63% 		George Henry Wilson
Kings David Durell Sutton
7,245
24.63% 		George Arthur Boggs
7,481
25.43% 		David Durell Sutton
William H. Pipe
7,047
23.96% 		Edward Haliburton
7,642
25.98% 		William H. Pipe

South Shore

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Liberal PC CCF Independent
Lunenburg Arthur L. Thurlow
6,940
21.53% 		R. Clifford Levy
8,727
27.07% 		Winfred Llewellyn
204
0.63% 		Arthur L. Thurlow
Gordon E. Romkey
7,381
22.90% 		Harley J. Spence
8,741
27.12% 		G. Boyd Crouse
241
0.75% 		Gordon E. Romkey
Queens Merrill D. Rawding
2,838
45.77% 		W. S. Kennedy Jones
3,230
52.09% 		Claude VanBuskirk
133
2.14% 		Merrill D. Rawding
Shelburne Wilfred Dauphinee
3,256
51.20% 		James McKay Harding
3,103
48.80% 		Wilfred Dauphinee
Yarmouth Allan d'Entremont
4,067
23.59% 		William Heartz Brown
4,859
28.18% 		William Heartz Brown
Donald J. Fraser
3,790
21.98% 		Raymond Z. Bourque
4,524
26.24% 		Donald J. Fraser

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Liberal PC CCF Independent
Colchester Gordon Purdy
7,255
24.20% 		Robert Stanfield
7,677
25.61% 		Harvey Curtis
324
1.08% 		Robert Stanfield
Hector Hill
6,963
23.23% 		George Isaac Smith
7,435
24.80% 		Sydney Parker
326
1.09% 		George Isaac Smith
Cumberland Centre Archibald J. Mason
2,012
40.65% 		Stephen T. Pyke
2,262
45.70% 		Florence Welton
676
13.66% 		Archibald J. Mason
Cumberland East Martin J. Kaufman
4,214
48.96% 		James A. Langille
4,393
51.04% 		Martin J. Kaufman
Cumberland West Allison T. Smith
2,799
54.55% 		Thomas A. Giles
2,332
45.45% 		Thomas A. Giles
Hants East[4] Alfred E. Reid
2,251
50.01% 		Ernest M. Ettinger
2,250
49.99% 		Ernest M. Ettinger

Halifax/Dartmouth/Eastern Shore

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Liberal PC CCF Independent
Halifax Centre James Edward Rutledge
5,603
57.69% 		R. Leo Simmonds
4,109
42.31% 		James Edward Rutledge
Halifax East Geoffrey W. Stevens
8,436
50.83% 		Lt. Col. R.D. King
7,196
43.36% 		Harper Power
964
5.81% 		Geoffrey W. Stevens
Halifax North Harold Connolly
8,148
61.37% 		Harold J. Bartlow
4,481
33.75% 		Richard J. Hardiman
648
4.88% 		Harold Connolly
Halifax South Angus Lewis Macdonald
5,751
59.68% 		John R. Milledge
3,885
40.32% 		Angus Lewis Macdonald
Halifax West Ronald Manning Fielding
8,061
51.31% 		Earle Haverstock
6,927
44.09% 		L.C. Wilson
723
4.60% 		Ronald Manning Fielding

Central Nova

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Liberal PC CCF Independent
Antigonish Colin H. Chisholm
2,624
48.92% 		Terrance Bernard Thompson
675
12.58% 		Vincent J. MacDonald
2,065
38.50% 		Colin H. Chisholm
Guysborough Arthur W. MacKenzie
3,470
56.29% 		A. Grant MacDonald
2,694
43.71% 		Arthur W. MacKenzie
Pictou Centre Alfred B. DeWolfe
5,155
45.41% 		Robert D. MacDonald
4,534
39.94% 		Donald Nicholson
1,662
14.64% 		Alfred B. DeWolfe
Pictou East John W. MacDonald
2,681
48.78% 		William A. MacLeod
2,592
47.16% 		Joseph D. Ryan
223
4.06% 		John W. MacDonald
Pictou West Stewart W. Proudfoot
2,628
50.09% 		Harvey Veniot
2,619
49.91% 		Stewart W. Proudfoot

Cape Breton

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
Liberal PC CCF Independent
Cape Breton Centre Martin MacPherson
2,816
30.70% 		Charles P. Miller
1,905
20.77% 		Michael James MacDonald
4,451
48.53% 		Michael James MacDonald
Cape Breton East Joseph McIntyre
3,934
37.88% 		William Wilton
1,356
13.06% 		Russell Cunningham
5,096
49.07% 		Russell Cunningham
Cape Breton North Alexander O'Handley
4,674
47.45% 		John Norman MacAskill
3,115
31.62% 		Daniel Joseph MacEachern
2,062
20.93% 		Alexander O'Handley
Cape Breton South John Smith MacIvor
6,467
44.67% 		A.O. Gunn
3,384
23.38% 		Vincent Allan Morrison
4,625
31.95% 		John Smith MacIvor
Cape Breton West Malcolm A. Patterson
3,730
48.86% 		Edward Manson
2,562
33.56% 		Harry Munroe
1,342
17.58% 		Malcolm A. Patterson
Inverness Alexander H. McKinnon
4,725
29.17% 		Leo P. Boudreau
3,585
22.13% 		Alexander H. McKinnon
Roderick MacLean
4,513
27.86% 		Alex A. MacInnis
3,374
20.83% 		Roderick MacLean
Richmond Earl Wallace Urquhart
2,970
58.30% 		Francis Whyte
2,124
41.70% 		Earl Wallace Urquhart
Victoria Carleton L. MacMillan
2,247
56.47% 		Joseph L. MacNeil
1,732
43.53% 		Carleton L. MacMillan

References

  1. ^ 16 November 1954 deferred by-election for Hants East seat, won by Liberal candidate
  2. ^ "Election Returns 1953" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  3. ^ While 347,290 votes were cast, only 280,661 electors voted as electors in several districts voted for two candidates.
  4. ^ In the riding of Hants East, Progressive Conservative Ernest M. Ettinger's 1-vote lead on election lead became a 1-vote lead for the Liberal's Alfred E. Reid after a judicial recount. After an appeal, a judge then decided to throw out the results of the general election; a by-election was held several months later to fill the seat and was won by Reid.