Prince Edward Island general election, 1955

Prince Edward Island general election, 1955

May 25, 1955

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 +3 -3 Popular vote 44,918 36,705 Percentage 55.0% 45.0% Swing +3.4pp -1.7pp

Premier before election Alex W. Matheson Liberal Premier-designate Alex W. Matheson Liberal

The 48th 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%

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.
2. Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.