1953 Canadian federal election

none September 2023 1953 Canadian federal election Canada 1921 parliamentary no no no 1949 Canadian federal election 1949 1957 Canadian federal election 1957 265 seats in the House of Commons 133 67.5%Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=turn&document=index&lang=e Elections Canada 10 March 2019 ( 6.3 pp) August 10, 1953 22nd Canadian Parliament 21st Canadian Parliament Louis St. Laurent portrait.jpg 131 131 175 0 0 CA Liberal nohash Louis St. Laurent August 7, 1948 CA Liberal name Quebec East 191 seats, 49.15% 169 22 2,731,633 48.43% 0.72 pp George_Drew_(cropped).jpg 134 131 175 0 0 CA PC nohash George A. Drew October 2, 1948 CA PC name Carleton 41 seats, 29.65% 51 10 1,749,579 31.02% 1.37 pp Major James Coldwell (cropped).jpg 131 131 175 0 0 CA CCF nohash Major James Coldwell March 22, 1942 CA CCF name Rosetown—Biggar 13 seats, 13.42% 23 10 636,310 11.28% 2.14 pp Solon Earl Low (cropped2).jpg 131 131 175 0 0 CA Social Credit nohash Solon Earl Low April 6, 1944 CA Social Credit name Peace River 10 seats, 2.31% 15 5 304,553 5.40% 3.09 pp 350px Results by electoral district 350px Results by province and territory Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Louis St. Laurent CA Liberal name Louis St. Laurent CA Liberal name Chambre des Communes 1953.png The Canadian parliament after the 1953 election x175px x175px x175px x175px The 1953 Canadian federal election was held on August 10, 1953, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 22nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent led his Liberal Party of Canada to its second consecutive majority government, although the party lost seats to the other parties. The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Premier of Ontario, George Drew, formed the official opposition, but for the last time until 1993, the party was unable to win the popular vote in any of Canada's provinces or territories. This was the last election until 1988 in which any party won back-to-back majorities, and the last until 1997 in which the Liberals would accomplish this feat. This election is the last time that the Liberals would win more seats in Alberta than the largest right-of-centre party in Canada, and the last time they would win more seats than the Tories in Alberta until 1993. Overview Liberal Party Throughout the years since the previous federal election, St. Laurent had been an active and popular Prime Minister, increasing the country's autonomy from the United Kingdom, overseeing the construction of the Trans-Canada Highway, and introducing various welfare programmes. With the Liberals remaining well ahead in the polls, St. Laurent decided there was little to be gained by waiting out his whole mandate, and called an early federal election a year before his mandate was due to expire. As with the previous election, the campaign was largely based around St. Laurent's personal image, and was light on any actual policies beyond a continuation of what his government had already been doing. While they would lose support in relatively equal measure to all the other three major parties, the majority that they had won four years earlier still held up, and delivered St. Laurent his second majority government. Progressive Conservatives While party leader George A. Drew had largely escaped blame for the poor showing at the previous election, the years ahead saw much debate about the party's future direction. Many believed that Ontario, where Drew remained personally very popular and his successor as Premier, Leslie Frost had maintained the party's heavy dominance of the provincial legislature, was key to any prospect of the Progressive Conservatives forming another government. Others within the party pointed out that even if they won every single seat in Ontario, it would leave them 48 seats short of a majority, and that they would need to make up the numbers elsewhere. Western Canada seemed the only realistic prospect of building a political base elsewhere in the country due to the Liberals' heavy domination of Quebec and (to a lesser degree) Atlantic Canada, but the party establishment largely dismissed this prospect, seeing the west as CCF and Socred territory. All the while, the party generally polled better than it had done in the 1945-1949 parliament, but there rarely looked to be any prospect of them forming the next government. Ultimately, the election result would do little to settle these factional disputes, as the party made something of a recovery in Ontario, and won two extra seats apiece in Quebec and Manitoba, but saw a further drop in their popular vote share west of Manitoba. Co-Operative Commonwealth Federation For this election, the CCF scaled back the scope of their campaign. Having tried to win seats throughout the country in the previous two elections, this time the party's goal was to re-establish its political base in Western Canada and retake the seats that it had lost to the Liberals. The party therefore abandoned any pretence of trying to make a breakthrough in Ontario, nominating very few candidates east of Manitoba, and almost none in Quebec. In the end, despite suffering the largest popular vote share loss of the major parties, the CCF's strategy paid off, largely reversing the losses they had suffered in the previous election. They earned a firm majority of seats in their political base of Saskatchewan, and also performed well in British Columbia, coming a close second to the Liberals in the province's seat total. Their final total of 23 seats nationally was 5 fewer than they had earned in 1945, but still the second-best showing since the party's formation. Social Credit Party While little changed in the Social Credit Party's political base of Alberta, with them winning the same total of 10 seats that they had at the previous federal election, this election marked an important breakthrough for the Socreds, who were able to capitalise on the newly-formed Social Credit provincial government of W. A. C. Bennett in British Columbia, and win seats in the province for the first time. They won a total of five seats, while coming a very close third (within half a percentage point) behind the CCF in the province's popular vote. For the first time, the Socreds held more seats than the Progressive Conservatives in two provinces. During the campaign, leader Solon Earl Low was largely able to side-step any questions of whether his party would be willing to prop up a potential minority Progressive Conservative government, as there was little doubt that the Liberals would win another majority. However, the Socreds' breakthrough into a new province and the PCs' seeming disinterest in the west soon resulted in much debate about Social Credit's potential role in a federal government (or at least supporting one on matters of confidence) in the years ahead. National results See also Results of the 1953 Canadian federal election center|300px PartyParty leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular vote1949Elected% Change#%pp Change CA Liberal rowLiberal Louis St. Laurent262 191169 -11.5%2,731,633 48.43% -0.72 CA PC rowProgressive Conservative George Drew248 4151 +24.4%1,749,579 31.02%+1.37 CA CCF rowCo-operative Commonwealth M.J. Coldwell170 1323 +76.9%636,310 11.28% -2.14 CA Social Credit row-nameSolon Low71 1015 +50%304,553 5.40%+3.09 CA Independent row Independent 14 43 -25.0%58,458 1.04%-1.01 CA Independent row Independent Liberal19 12 +100%68,506 1.21%+0.69 CA Liberal rowLiberal-Labour1 1 11 -11,380 0.20%- CA Liberal-Progressive row-name 1 11 -8,958 0.16%- CA Labor-Progressive row-nameTim Buck100 ---59,622 1.06% +0.50 CA Independent rowNationalist Adrien Arcand1 *-*7,496 0.13% * CA Independent rowIndependent Progressive Conservative 3 ---1,636 0.03% -0.11 CA Independent rowChristian Liberal  1 *- *1,5050.03% * CA Independent rowIndependent Social Credit 1 -- -422 0.01% -0.07 CA Independent rowLocataire (candidat)  1 *- *417 0.01% * CA Independent rowAnti-Communist  1 *- *333 0.01% * CA Socialist rowSocialist Labour  1 -- -130 xxTotal 897 262265 +1.1%5,640,938 100%  Sources: http://www.elections.ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867 https://web.archive.org/web/20081204121507/http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E 2008-12-04 Notes: * - not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote 1 The Liberal-Labour MP sat with the Liberal caucus. Vote and seat summaries Ternary plots - shift of electoral support (1949-1953) 350 200 yes center Electoral districts identified by colours of winning parties File:Ternary CA1949.svg 1949 Ternary plot of 1949 results File:Ternary CA1953.svg 1953 Ternary plot of 1953 results Popular vote #ddd 600px 410px Liberal #F08080 48.43 PC CA PC 31.02 CCF CA CCF 11.28 Social Credit CA Social Credit 5.40 Others #DCDCDC 3.87 Seat totals #ddd 600px 410px Liberal #F08080 64.15 PC CA PC 19.24 CCF CA CCF 8.67 Social Credit CA Social Credit 5.66 Others #DCDCDC 2.26 Results by province Party nameBCABSKMBONQCNBNSPENLNWYKTotal CA Liberal rowLiberal Seats: 8 4 5 7 50 66 7 10 3 7 1 1 169 CA Liberal row Vote (%): 30.9 35.1 37.3 37.0 46.0 61.0 52.7 53.0 51.1 67.2 49.4 78.7 48.4 CA PC rowProgressive Conservative Seats: 3 2 1 3 33 4 3 1 1 0 - - 51 CA PC row Vote (%): 14.1 14.5 11.7 27.0 40.3 29.4 41.9 40.1 48.0 28.1 38.5 21.3 31.0 CA CCF rowCo-operative Commonwealth Seats: 7 - 11 3 1 -- 1 - -     23 CA CCF row Vote (%): 26.6 6.9 44.2 23.6 11.1 1.5 3.0 6.7 0.8 0.6     11.3 CA Social Credit rowSocial Credit Seats:4 11 - - -  -           15 CA Social Credit row Vote (%): 26.1 40.7 5.3 6.3 0.3   0.4           5.4 CA Independent rowIndependent Seats:  -   - -3       - -   3 CA Independent row Vote (%):   0.1   0.2 0.3 3.0       4.0 12.4   1.0 CA Independent rowIndependent Liberal Seats:       - - 2 -           2 CA Independent row Vote (%):       4.0 0.3 3.7 1.9           1.2 CA Liberal-Labour rowCA Liberal-Labour name Seats:         1             1 CA Labour row Vote (%):       0.6              0.2 CA Liberal-Progressive rowLiberal-Progressive Seats:      1                1 CA Liberal-Progressive row Vote (%):       3.3                 0.2Total Seats  22 17 17 14 8575 10 12 47 1 1 265Parties that won no seats: CA Labor-Progressive row-name Vote (%): 2.2 2.7 1.1 2.3 1.0 0.7   0.2         1.1 CA Independent row Nationalist Vote (%):           0.5             0.1 CA Independent row Independent PC Vote (%):          0.1             xx CA Independent row Christian Liberal Vote (%):         0.1               xx CA Independent Social Credit row-name Vote (%):  0.1                     xx CA Independent row Locataire (candidat) Vote (%):           xx             xx CA Independent row Anti-Communist Vote (%):         xx            xx CA Socialist row Socialist Labour Vote (%):        xx              xx xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote See also Canada Politics List of Canadian federal general elections List of political parties in Canada 22nd Canadian Parliament References Further reading LeDuc Lawrence Pammett Jon H. McKenzie Judith L. Turcotte André Dynasties and Interludes: Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics 2010 Dundurn Press Toronto 978-1-55488-886-3 https://archive.org/details/dynastiesinterlu0000unse registration Beck James Murray James Murray Beck Pendulum of Power; Canada's Federal Elections 1968 Prentice-Hall of Canada Scarborough 978-0-13-655670-1 https://archive.org/details/pendulumofpower0000unse registration Argyle Ray Turning Points: The Campaigns that Changed Canada 2004 and Before 2004 White Knight Publications Toronto 978-0-9734186-6-8 https://archive.org/details/turningpointscam0000argy registration Canada, Chief Electoral Officer Twenty-Second General Election, 1953: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer 1953 Queen's Printer Ottawa https://archive.org/details/31761115541146 Federal 1953 Category:August 1953 in Canada