1951 Toronto municipal election

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 3, 1951. Allan Lamport defeated incumbent Hiram E. McCallum in the mayoral election.

Toronto mayor

Lamport had challenged McCallum the previous year but had lost by a narrow margin. McCallum had originally planned on retiring and being succeeded by Controller John Innes, but Innes died unexpectedly during the year. The 1951 also saw an attempt at the mayoralty by alderman Nathan Phillips, who finished a distant third. In Phillips' autobiography he states that he expected fellow Conservative McCallum to retire, but that their both running split to vote and allowed Lamport to become the first Liberal elected to run the city since 1909.^[1] Lamport ran under the slogan "Toronto needs a fighting mayor."

Results: Allan Lamport - 72,648; Hiram E. McCallum - 59,492; Nathan Phillips - 24,811

Board of Control

The only new arrival on the Board of Control was Ford Brand, secretary of the Toronto and District Labour Council. John Innes had died in office and his replacement Alfred Cowling decided to contest the 1951 Provincial Election. Former Controller and avowed Communist Stewart Smith made another attempt to return to the board, but finished a distant fifth.

Results: Leslie Saunders (incumbent) - 95,838; Ford Brand - 92,725; David Balfour (incumbent) - 91,474; Louis Shannon (incumbent) - 87,440; Stewart Smith - 31,317; Frederick Vacher - 20,039

City council

Ward boundaries used in the 1952 election

Ward 1 (Riverdale): John McMechan (incumbent) - acclaimed; William Allen (incumbent) - acclaimed

Ward 2 (Cabbagetown and Rosedale): Joseph Cornish (incumbent) - 7,777; Beverley Sparling (incumbent) - 6,659; Perry - 3,809

Ward 3 (West Downtown and Summerhill): Howard Phillips (incumbent) - 5,248; John McVicar - 4,494; Wilson - 1,257; Feeley - 929; Trottier - 750; Smith - 722

Ward 4 (The Annex, Kensington Market and Garment District): Francis Chambers (incumbent) - 6,412; Allan Grossman - 4,381; Norman Freed - 4,250; Campbell - 3,290; Garfunkel - 1,573; Darell Draper - 1,377; Reeves - 404

Ward 5 (Trinity-Bellwoods and Little Italy): Philip Givens 7,240; Ernest Bogart - 7,122; Harold Menzies - 6,600; Charles Sims - 5,612; Segal - 1,526

Ward 6 (Davenport and Parkdale): May Robinson - 12,086; George Granell (incumbent) - 9,497; Frank Clifton - 8,993; Lester Nelson - 5,690; Ferguson - 3,696; Wilson - 2,141; Patrick McKeown - 1,282

Ward 7 (West Toronto Junction): William Davidson (incumbent) - 8,546; David Sanderson (incumbent) - 7,602; John Kucherepa- 4,531

Ward 8 (The Beaches): Ross Lipsett (incumbent) - 13,837; Alex Hodgins (incumbent) - 11,736; McNulty - 4,018; William Probert - 3,399; Banks - 3,290; Hoolans - 2,200; John Square - 758

Ward 9 (North Toronto): Roy E. Belyea (incumbent) - acclaimed; Leonard Reilly - acclaimed

Results taken from the December 4, 1951 Toronto Star and might not exactly match final tallies.

Changes

Ward 7 Alderman David Sanderson died on March 25, 1952; John Kucherepa was appointed Alderman on March 31.

Outside Toronto

North York

Nelson A. Boylen re-elected as reeve.

Scarborough

Oliver E. Crockford re-elected as reeve.

References

Election Coverage. Toronto Star. December 4, 1951

^ Nathan Phillips. Mayor of All the People McClelland and Stewart, 1967

[1] Nathan Phillips. Mayor of All the People McClelland and Stewart, 1967

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