1949 Newfoundland general election

The 1949 Newfoundland general election was held on 27 May 1949 to elect members of the 29th General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was the first general election held since Newfoundland joined Canadian confederation on 31 March 1949 and the first Newfoundland-wide election of any kind since the suspension of responsible government and the creation of the Commission of Government in 1934. The election was won by the Liberal Party.

1949 Newfoundland general election

May 27, 1949

28 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly
15 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Joey Smallwood Harry Mews
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative
Leader's seat Bonavista North St. John's West
(defeated)
Seats won 22 5
Popular vote 110,459 54,728
Percentage 65.68% 32.54%

Premier before election

New Office

Premier after election

Joey Smallwood
Liberal

Joey Smallwood was invited to form an interim administration when Newfoundland became a part of Canada just before midnight on March 31, 1949. This interim Smallwood administration continued until the results of the May election.

The election was held under the House of Assembly Act of 1932, with the same 27 seats, plus a new seat for Labrador, though the election in the Labrador seat was deferred until July 25. The five seats where Progressive Conservatives won had all voted heavily against confederation in the 1948 Newfoundland referendums.

Results by district

Candidates by district
Electoral District Liberal Progressive Conservative Independent
Bonavista North Joey Smallwood
4,215
J.M. Wray
637
-
Bonavista South Ted Russell
3,462
Walter Young
1,583
-
Burgeo and LaPoile Herman W. Quinton
3,225
E.J. Skinner
256
-
Burin Phillip Forsey
3,947
Grace Sparkes
416
-
Carbonear-Bay de Verde Herbert Pottle
3,770
C.W. Puddester
1,627
-
Ferryland Augustus Greene
456
- Peter Cashin
2,506
J.J. O'Brien
338
Fogo Gordon Janes
3,121
Harold Earle
602
-
Fortune Bay and Hermitage John R. Courage
4,032
C.D. Pinsent
325
-
Grand Falls Edward Spencer
7,014
L.R. Cooper
1,586
-
Green Bay Baxter Morgan
2,901
Roy Manuel
429
-
Harbour Grace James Chalker
2,066
R.A. Parsons
1,237
-
Harbour Main-Bell Island (Multi-Member) T. Addison Brown
2,927
Myles P. Murray
2,807
David Jackman
4,259
Ronald Fahey
3,808
-
Humber Charles Ballam
7,174
Pierce Fudge
1,307
Louis Bonnell
136
Labrador (election held July 25, 1949) Harold Horwood
1,268
R.A. Parsons
133
-
Placentia and St. Mary's Michael J. Sinnott
2,022
Leonard J. Miller
2,166
-
Placentia West Patrick Canning
3,100
L.J. Murphy
860
-
Port de Grave George Makinson
2,243
W.R. Dawe
1,222
-
St. Barbe Reginald F. Sparkes
2,588
George Whiteley
190
-
St. George's-Port au Port William Keough
4,076
J.J. Dawson
925
-
St. John's East (Multi-Member) Geoffrey C. Carnell
6,417
James M. Fagan
6,276
John G. Higgins
6,878
Frank Fogwill
6,611
-
St. John's West (Multi-Member) Oliver Hardy
8,411
James Spratt
8,363
Harry Mews
7,526

Michael F. Harrington
7,381
-
Trinity North Samuel J. Hefferton
3,727
James Mifflin
1,027
-
Trinity South Maxwell Button
3,070
Isaac Mercer
1,152
-
Twillingate Leslie Curtis
3,100
C.L. Parkins
293
-
White Bay Sam Drover
4,023
F.M. Wells
417
-

References

  • Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. Newfoundland Book Publishers (1967) Ltd. 1981. p. 723. Retrieved May 17, 2019.


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