1955 Ontario general election
The 1955 Ontario general election was held on June 9, 1955, to elect the 98 members of the 25th Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario.[1]
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98 seats in the 25th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 50 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by Leslie Frost, won a fifth consecutive term in office, increasing its caucus in the legislature from 79 in the previous election to 83.
The Ontario Liberal Party, again led by Farquhar Oliver, won three additional seats in the enlarged legislature, increasing its caucus from 8 to 11, and continuing in the role of official opposition. Liberal-Labour MPP Albert Wren was re-elected and continued to sit with the Liberal caucus.
The social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), led by Donald C. MacDonald, won one additional seat, for a total of three.
The Labor-Progressive Party (which was the Communist Party) lost its last remaining seat with the defeat of J.B. Salsberg.
One "PC Independent" was elected.
Expansion of Legislative Assembly
For the first time since the 1934 election, the number of seats in the Legislature was adjusted, rising from 90 to 98.[2] The following changes were made:
- Addington became Frontenac—Addington
- London was divided into London North and London South
- Muskoka—Ontario was reduced to Muskoka, ceding its part of Ontario County to Ontario
- Nickel Belt was separated from Sudbury
- Oshawa was separated from Ontario
- Ottawa West was carved out from Carleton
- Wellington North became Wellington—Dufferin
- Part of Wentworth became Wentworth East
- York Centre was carved out from York North
- York—Humber was separated from York West
- York—Scarborough was ceded from York East
Results
| Political party | Party leader | MPPs | Votes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | 1951 | Dissol. | 1955 | ± | # | % | ± (pp) | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Leslie Frost | 97 | 79 | 83 | 4 |
846,592 | 48.06% | 0.40 | ||
| Liberal | Farquhar Oliver | 94 | 7 | 10 | 3 |
577,774 | 32.80% | 1.74 | ||
| Co-operative Commonwealth | Donald C. MacDonald | 81 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
291,410 | 16.54% | 2.56 | ||
| Labor–Progressive | Stewart Smith | 31 | 1 | – | 1 |
20,875 | 1.19% | 0.52 | ||
| Liberal–Labour | 2 | 1 | 1 |  |
7,305 | 0.41% | 0.04 | |||
| Independent-PC | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1 |
7,033 | 0.40% | 0.34 | ||
| Independent | 5 | – | – | – | 9,169 | 0.52% | 0.41 | |||
| Independent-Liberal | 1 | – | – | – | 641 | 0.04% | New | |||
| Independent-Social Credit | 1 | – | – | – | 602 | 0.03% | New | |||
| Socialist-Labour | 1 | – | – | – | 124 | 0.01% | | |||
| Independent-Labour | – | – | – | – | Did not campaign | |||||
| Vacant | ||||||||||
| Total | 314 | 90 | 90 | 98 | 1,761,525 | 100.00% | ||||
| Blank and invalid ballots | 22,622 | |||||||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 2,905,760 | 61.40% | 4.17 | |||||||
| Party | Seats | Votes | Change (pp) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| █ Progressive Conservative | 83 / 98 | 48.06% | -0.40 | ||
| █ Liberal | 10 / 98 | 32.80% | 1.74 | ||
| █ Co-operative Commonwealth | 3 / 98 | 16.54% | -2.56 | ||
| █ Other | 2 / 98 | 2.60% | 1.22 | ||
Reorganization of ridings
The reorganized ridings returned the following MLAs:
Seats that changed hands
| Party | 1951 | Gain from (loss to) | 1955 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PC | Lib | CCF | Lbr-P | L-L | I-PC | ||||||||||
| Progressive Conservative | 72 | 2 | (5) | 1 | (1) | 1 | (1) | 69 | |||||||
| Liberal | 7 | 5 | (2) | 10 | |||||||||||
| Co-operative Commonwealth | 1 | 1 | (1) | 1 | |||||||||||
| Labor–Progressive | 1 | (1) | – | ||||||||||||
| Liberal–Labour | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Independent-PC | – | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 82 | 6 | (4) | 2 | (5) | 1 | (1) | 1 | – | – | – | – | (1) | 82 | |
There were 10 seats that changed allegiance in the election.
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See also
References
- "1955 General Election". Elections Ontario. Elections Ontario. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
- The Representation Act, 1954, S.O. 1954, c. 84
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