1952 Quebec general election

1952 Quebec general election
← outgoing members elected members →
92 seats in the 24th Legislative Assembly of Quebec ; 47 seats were needed for a majority
Premier before election; Maurice Duplessis; Union Nationale	Premier after election ; Maurice Duplessis; Union Nationale

The 1952 Quebec general election was held on July 16, 1952, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Georges-Émile Lapalme.

This was the fourth time (and the third in a row) that Duplessis led his party to a general election victory.

The number of seats won by the Liberals, and their share of the popular vote, were considerably increased over the previous election in 1948.

Campaign

Thérèse Casgrain became the first female leader of a Quebec political party, heading the CCF.

Of the 92 races, 56 were two-way contests between the two major parties:

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1952)^[1]
Candidates	UN	Lib	CCF	I-UN	I-Lib	Ind	Lab-Pr	Lbr	PN	Total
2	56	56								112
3	23	24	11	8	2	2		1	1	72
4	8	8	8	2	2		2	2		32
5	4	4	4		4	2	2			20
Total	91	92	23	10	8	4	4	3	1	236

Outcome

Henri Groulx (Montréal-Outremont) was the first candidate to learn that he had been reelected, but he died within an hour of hearing the news.^[2] Georges-Émile Lapalme, who had lost his campaign to take Joliette,^[3] would subsequently win the Outremont byelection held on July 9, 1953.^[4]

There were two notable results that arose from the election:

From 1952 until the 1966 election, Frank Hanley (Montréal–Sainte-Anne) would be the only candidate outside the UN and Liberals to win a seat in the Legislature.
For the first time since the 1936 election, no party other than the UN and the Liberals received more than 1% of the popular vote. This would continue until 1966.

Results

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1952)^[1]
Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
Political party		Party leader	Candidates	1948	1952	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Union Nationale	Maurice Duplessis	91	82	68	14	847,983	72,236	50.50%	0.75
	Liberal	Georges-Émile Lapalme	92	8	23	15	768,539	221,061	45.77%	9.61
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Thérèse Casgrain	23	–	–	–	16,039	7,023	0.96%	0.36
	Union des électeurs		did not campaign
	Other candidates
	█ Independent		4	2	1	1	13,846	10,110	0.82%	0.76
	█ Independent-Unionist		10	–	–	–	13,197	4,548	0.79%	0.22
	Parti National^{[a 1]}		1	–	–	–	9,734	New	0.58%	New
	█ Independent-Liberal		8	–	–	–	4,966	1,998	0.30%	0.10
	█ Labor–Progressive		4	–	–	–	3,932	967	0.23%	0.09
	█ Labour		3	–	–	–	1,027	71	0.06%	0.01
Total			236	92	92		1,679,263		100%
Rejected ballots							25,648	7,720
Voter turnout							1,704,911	173,012	75.88	0.66
Registered electors							2,246,998	210,422

^ contested by René Chaloult (Québec-Comté), who had previously won as an Independent in 1948. This was the only riding in which the UN did not field a candidate but Léopold Larochelle did campaign as an Independent Unionist.

Seats and popular vote by party
Party	Seats	Votes	Change (pp)
█ Union Nationale	68 / 92	50.50%	-0.75
█ Liberal	23 / 92	45.77%	9.61	9.61
█ Independent	1 / 92	0.82%	-0.76
█ Other	0 / 92	2.91%	-8.10

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1952 Quebec general election^[1]^[5]
Riding	Winning party								Turnout ^{[a 1]}	Votes
Name	1948		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %		UN	Lib	CCF	Ind	PN	I-UN	I-Lib	Lab-Pr	Lab	Total
Name	1948		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %											Total

Abitibi-Est		UN		UN	12,497	57.01%	3,074	14.02%	77.64%	12,497	9,423	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	21,920
Abitibi-Ouest		UN		UN	6,713	55.15%	1,254	10.30%	87.83%	6,713	5,459	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12,172
Argenteuil		UN		UN	8,248	67.92%	4,352	35.84%	83.18%	8,248	3,896	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12,144
Arthabaska		UN		UN	9,003	53.31%	1,119	6.63%	91.17%	9,003	7,884	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	16,887
Bagot		UN		UN	5,126	57.78%	1,381	15.57%	89.35%	5,126	3,745	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,871
Beauce		UN		UN	12,939	58.21%	3,649	16.42%	88.09%	12,939	9,290	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	22,229
Beauharnois		UN		UN	10,968	61.25%	4,030	22.51%	82.95%	10,968	6,938	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,906
Bellechasse		UN		UN	5,814	54.65%	989	9.30%	81.31%	5,814	4,825	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,639
Berthier		UN		UN	6,225	51.14%	277	2.28%	89.17%	6,225	5,948	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12,173
Bonaventure		UN		UN	8,875	52.14%	730	4.29%	87.00%	8,875	8,145	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,020
Brome		UN		UN	3,982	60.57%	1,550	23.58%	83.84%	3,982	2,432	160	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,574
Chambly		UN		UN	18,486	56.54%	5,120	15.66%	74.16%	18,486	13,366	846	–	–	–	–	–	–	32,698
Champlain		UN		UN	11,634	59.94%	3,860	19.89%	88.79%	11,634	7,774	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19,408
Charlevoix		UN		UN	7,454	62.64%	3,133	26.33%	83.20%	7,454	4,321	–	–	–	125	–	–	–	11,900
Châteauguay		UN		UN	4,691	53.70%	647	7.41%	84.19%	4,691	4,044	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,735
Chicoutimi		UN		UN	29,572	65.66%	14,106	31.32%	83.35%	29,572	15,466	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	45,038
Compton		UN		UN	6,349	59.58%	2,140	20.08%	83.85%	6,349	4,209	98	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,656
Deux-Montagnes		UN		UN	7,257	74.97%	4,991	51.56%	81.47%	7,257	2,266	157	–	–	–	–	–	–	9,680
Dorchester		UN		UN	9,764	61.92%	3,758	23.83%	85.58%	9,764	6,006	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15,770
Drummond		UN		Lib	11,873	50.25%	118	0.50%	88.97%	11,755	11,873	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	23,628
Frontenac		UN		Lib	6,464	51.13%	286	2.26%	91.07%	6,178	6,464	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12,642
Gaspé-Nord		Lib		UN	4,364	52.45%	438	5.26%	89.43%	4,364	3,926	–	–	–	30	–	–	–	8,320
Gaspé-Sud		UN		UN	8,473	61.41%	3,148	22.81%	84.66%	8,473	5,325	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	13,798
Gatineau		UN		UN	8,268	60.04%	3,251	23.61%	77.36%	8,268	5,017	–	–	–	486	–	–	–	13,771
Hull		UN		UN	12,354	60.73%	5,043	24.79%	79.08%	12,354	7,311	679	–	–	–	–	–	–	20,344
Huntingdon		UN		UN	3,162	52.11%	256	4.22%	82.87%	3,162	2,906	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,068
Iberville		UN		UN	3,597	58.49%	1,044	16.98%	85.98%	3,597	2,553	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	6,150
Îles-de-la-Madeleine		UN		UN	2,463	57.99%	679	15.99%	89.86%	2,463	1,784	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4,247
Jacques-Cartier		Lib		Lib	22,847	53.70%	4,795	11.27%	68.73%	18,052	22,847	1,645	–	–	–	–	–	–	42,544
Joliette		UN		UN	10,281	57.88%	2,799	15.76%	89.29%	10,281	7,482	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,763
Kamouraska		UN		UN	6,723	59.65%	2,175	19.30%	82.79%	6,723	4,548	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	11,271
L'Assomption		UN		UN	6,169	55.44%	1,211	10.88%	88.55%	6,169	4,958	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	11,127
L'Islet		UN		UN	5,718	57.10%	1,422	14.20%	85.27%	5,718	4,296	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,014
Labelle		UN		UN	6,394	58.97%	1,945	17.94%	87.78%	6,394	4,449	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,843
Lac-Saint-Jean		UN		UN	8,180	57.87%	2,385	16.87%	85.78%	8,180	5,795	–	–	–	161	–	–	–	14,136
Laval		UN		UN	34,656	52.40%	5,972	9.03%	66.97%	34,656	28,684	771	–	–	2,031	–	–	–	66,142
Laviolette		UN		UN	9,598	52.67%	972	5.33%	82.44%	9,598	8,626	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	18,224
Lévis		UN		Lib	9,725	50.26%	99	0.51%	85.35%	9,626	9,725	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19,351
Lotbinière		UN		UN	6,702	54.51%	1,108	9.01%	89.61%	6,702	5,594	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12,296
Maisonneuve		UN		Lib	18,393	49.93%	672	1.82%	67.51%	17,721	18,393	723	–	–	–	–	–	–	36,837
Maskinongé		UN		UN	5,074	53.82%	721	7.65%	92.72%	5,074	4,353	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9,427
Matane		UN		UN	10,241	58.89%	3,093	17.79%	86.76%	10,241	7,148	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,389
Matapédia		UN		UN	6,797	51.16%	427	3.21%	87.46%	6,797	6,370	–	118	–	–	–	–	–	13,285
Mégantic		UN		UN	10,710	51.38%	577	2.77%	91.04%	10,710	10,133	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	20,843
Missisquoi		UN		UN	7,191	61.42%	2,675	22.85%	82.40%	7,191	4,516	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	11,707
Montcalm		UN		UN	4,141	52.72%	428	5.45%	88.19%	4,141	3,713	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	7,854
Montmagny		UN		UN	6,409	59.49%	2,045	18.98%	83.13%	6,409	4,364	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,773
Montmorency		UN		UN	5,894	60.17%	1,992	20.33%	86.92%	5,894	3,902	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	9,796
Montréal–Jeanne-Mance		UN		Lib	22,666	48.48%	2,618	5.60%	62.83%	20,048	22,666	1,849	–	–	2,194	–	–	–	46,757
Montréal-Laurier		UN		UN	14,595	49.67%	1,791	6.10%	67.20%	14,595	12,804	436	–	–	–	1,549	–	–	29,384
Montréal-Mercier		UN		UN	16,280	51.88%	3,211	10.23%	64.15%	16,280	13,069	1,044	–	–	–	986	–	–	31,379
Montréal–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce		Lib		Lib	18,489	64.83%	11,516	40.38%	47.80%	6,973	18,489	634	2,066	–	–	359	–	–	28,521
Montréal-Outremont		Lib		Lib	18,794	61.01%	8,482	27.53%	51.62%	10,312	18,794	581	–	–	–	–	1,119	–	30,806
Montréal–Saint-Henri		UN		Lib	19,254	56.01%	5,153	14.99%	72.54%	14,101	19,254	562	–	–	–	–	–	460	34,377
Montréal–Saint-Jacques		UN		UN	11,049	54.08%	2,178	10.66%	60.43%	11,049	8,871	230	–	–	–	–	282	–	20,432
Montréal–Saint-Louis		Lib		Lib	15,226	50.36%	3,759	12.43%	50.94%	11,467	15,226	526	–	–	–	707	2,311	–	30,237
Montréal–Sainte-Anne		Ind		Ind	11,210	62.87%	5,621	31.52%	55.29%	410	5,589	445	11,210	–	–	177	–	–	17,831
Montréal–Sainte-Marie		UN		Lib	15,019	50.90%	1,773	6.01%	66.85%	13,246	15,019	218	–	–	–	806	220	–	29,509
Montréal-Verdun		Lib		Lib	17,219	62.17%	10,040	36.25%	61.09%	7,179	17,219	2,857	–	–	–	–	–	443	27,698
Napierville-Laprairie		UN		UN	7,094	57.29%	1,806	14.59%	88.47%	7,094	5,288	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	12,382
Nicolet		UN		UN	7,191	50.86%	242	1.71%	85.60%	7,191	6,949	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	14,140
Papineau		UN		UN	11,707	64.97%	5,794	32.15%	84.33%	11,707	5,913	400	–	–	–	–	–	–	18,020
Pontiac		UN		UN	5,792	61.22%	2,247	23.75%	83.90%	5,792	3,545	124	–	–	–	–	–	–	9,461
Portneuf		UN		UN	10,665	52.90%	1,676	8.31%	85.94%	10,665	8,989	–	–	–	508	–	–	–	20,162
Québec-Centre		UN		UN	9,593	54.50%	1,585	9.01%	76.09%	9,593	8,008	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,601
Québec-Comté		Ind		Lib	11,230	39.67%	1,496	5.28%	83.11%	–	11,230	–	–	9,734	7,344	–	–	–	28,308
Québec-Est		UN		Lib	15,778	51.12%	860	2.79%	81.22%	14,918	15,778	–	–	–	–	167	–	–	30,863
Québec-Ouest		UN		Lib	8,787	50.53%	183	1.05%	79.16%	8,604	8,787	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,391
Richelieu		UN		Lib	8,751	52.88%	954	5.77%	89.91%	7,797	8,751	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	16,548
Richmond		UN		Lib	8,156	51.07%	341	2.14%	87.33%	7,815	8,156	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	15,971
Rimouski		UN		UN	9,210	52.05%	981	5.54%	83.69%	9,210	8,229	–	–	–	256	–	–	–	17,695
Rivière-du-Loup		UN		UN	8,689	51.15%	453	2.67%	89.38%	8,689	8,236	–	–	–	62	–	–	–	16,987
Roberval		UN		UN	11,478	59.24%	3,579	18.47%	87.64%	11,478	7,899	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19,377
Rouville		UN		UN	5,263	58.77%	1,571	17.54%	81.70%	5,263	3,692	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,955
Rouyn-Noranda		UN		UN	6,998	52.55%	678	5.09%	79.08%	6,998	6,320	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	13,318
Saguenay		UN		UN	8,977	62.55%	4,054	28.25%	75.34%	8,977	4,923	–	452	–	–	–	–	–	14,352
Saint-Hyacinthe		UN		UN	9,542	55.15%	1,783	10.31%	78.19%	9,542	7,759	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	17,301
Saint-Jean		UN		UN	7,901	60.64%	2,772	21.27%	83.44%	7,901	5,129	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	13,030
Saint-Maurice		UN		Lib	14,489	57.91%	3,960	15.83%	87.70%	10,529	14,489	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	25,018
Saint-Sauveur		UN		UN	12,877	57.02%	3,293	14.58%	85.54%	12,877	9,584	–	–	–	–	–	–	124	22,585
Shefford		UN		Lib	9,792	50.59%	230	1.19%	83.05%	9,562	9,792	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	19,354
Sherbrooke		UN		UN	14,905	55.77%	3,480	13.02%	74.15%	14,905	11,425	395	–	–	–	–	–	–	26,725
Stanstead		UN		UN	7,047	50.32%	91	0.65%	75.60%	7,047	6,956	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	14,003
Témiscamingue		UN		Lib	4,284	52.72%	442	5.44%	85.17%	3,842	4,284	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,126
Témiscouata		UN		UN	5,776	52.92%	638	5.85%	86.65%	5,776	5,138	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10,914
Terrebonne		UN		UN	17,763	55.91%	3,970	12.50%	85.41%	17,763	13,793	–	–	–	–	215	–	–	31,771
Trois-Rivières		UN		UN	15,493	60.64%	5,435	21.27%	90.65%	15,493	10,058	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	25,551
Vaudreuil-Soulanges		UN		UN	7,235	55.44%	1,420	10.88%	83.14%	7,235	5,815	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	13,050
Verchères		Lib		Lib	4,673	53.97%	688	7.95%	88.13%	3,985	4,673	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	8,658
Westmount–Saint-Georges		Lib		Lib	12,455	75.99%	9,179	56.00%	46.48%	3,276	12,455	659	–	–	–	–	–	–	16,390
Wolfe		UN		Lib	3,995	50.42%	66	0.83%	92.33%	3,929	3,995	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	7,924
Yamaska		UN		UN	4,382	59.29%	1,373	18.58%	88.59%	4,382	3,009	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	7,391

^ including spoilt ballots

= open seat

= turnout is above provincial average

= winning candidate was in previous Legislature

= incumbent had switched allegiance

= other incumbents renominated

Analysis

Party candidates in 2nd place^[1]
Party in 1st place		Party in 2nd place			Total
Party in 1st place		UN	Lib	Nat	Total
	Union Nationale		68		68
	Liberal	22		1	23
	Independent		1		1
Total		22	69	1	92

Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party^[1]
Parties	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
█ Union Nationale	68	22		1		91
█ Liberal	23	69				92
█ Independent	1		3			4
█ Parti National		1				1
█ Co-operative Commonwealth			15	6	2	23
█ Independent UN			10			10
█ Independent Liberal			4	2	2	8
█ Labor–Progressive			3	1		4
█ Labour			1	2		3

Resulting composition of the 24th Quebec Legislative Assembly^[5]
Source		Party
Source		UN	Lib	Ind	Total
Seats retained	Incumbents returned	62	7	1	70
Seats retained	Open seats held	5			5
Seats changing hands	Incumbents defeated	1	16		17
Total		68	23	1	92

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Drouilly, Pierre (December 4, 2017). "Élections québécoises de 1952". donneesquebec.ca. Atlas des élections au Québec.
^ "Groulx Dies Suddenly". Montreal Gazette. July 17, 1952. p. 1.
^ "National Union Again Sweeps Province". Montreal Gazette. July 17, 1952. p. 1.
^ "Party Standing in Quebec Unchanged by By-elections". Montreal Gazette. July 10, 1953. p. 1.
^ ^a ^b "Les membres de l'Assemblée nationale par circonscription" [National Assembly members by riding] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved September 9, 2023.

[5] tested by René Chaloult (Québec-Comté), who had previously won as an Independent in 1948. This was the only riding in which the UN did not field a candidate but Léopold Larochelle did campaign as an Independent Unionist.

[7] uding spoilt ballots

[EQdata-1] Drouilly, Pierre (December 4, 2017). "Élections québécoises de 1952". donneesquebec.ca. Atlas des élections au Québec.

[2] "Groulx Dies Suddenly". Montreal Gazette. July 17, 1952. p. 1.

[3] "National Union Again Sweeps Province". Montreal Gazette. July 17, 1952. p. 1.

[4] "Party Standing in Quebec Unchanged by By-elections". Montreal Gazette. July 10, 1953. p. 1.

[MNAdata-6] "Les membres de l'Assemblée nationale par circonscription" [National Assembly members by riding] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved September 9, 2023.

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