1956 Saskatchewan general election

The 1956 Saskatchewan general election, the thirteenth in the province's history, was held on June 20, 1956, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government of Premier Tommy Douglas was re-elected to a fourth consecutive majority government.

1956 Saskatchewan general election

← 1952 June 20, 1956 (1956-06-20) 1960 →

53 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
27 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
LIB
SC
Leader Tommy Douglas Alexander McDonald
Party Co-operative Commonwealth Liberal Social Credit
Leader since July 17, 1942 November 26, 1954
Leader's seat Weyburn Moosomin
Last election 42 11 0
Seats won 36 14 3
Seat change Decrease6 Increase3 Increase3
Popular vote 249,634 167,427 118,491
Percentage 45.3% 30.3% 21.5%
Swing Decrease8.8pp Decrease8.9pp Increase17.6pp

Premier before election

Tommy Douglas
Co-operative Commonwealth

Premier after election

Tommy Douglas
Co-operative Commonwealth

Summary

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Tommy Douglas' Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) secured a majority government, despite its share of the popular vote decreasing close to 10%. The party won 6 fewer seats than it had in the 1952 election.[1] The election victory secured a fourth term in office.

The Liberal Party of Alexander H. McDonald also lost votes, but picked up an additional three seats.[1]

The Social Credit Party rebounded from its poor results in previous elections, surging to win over 21% of the popular vote.[1] However, because this vote was widely distributed across the province, the party won only 3 seats in the legislature under the British parliamentary first-past-the-post system.

Results

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Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular Vote
1952 Elected % Change # % % Change
Co-operative Commonwealth Tommy Douglas 53 42 36 -14.3% 249,634 45.25% -8.81%
Liberal Alexander McDonald 52 11 14 +27.3% 167,427 30.34% -8.93%
Social Credit 53 3   118,491 21.48% +17.58%
Progressive Conservative Alvin Hamilton 9 10,921 1.98% +0.01%
  Independent 2 4,714 0.85% +0.57%
Labor–Progressive 2 536 0.10% -0.11%
Total 171 53 53 551,723 100%  
Source: Elections Saskatchewan

Percentages

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Popular vote
CCF
45.25%
Liberal
30.34%
Social Credit
21.48%
PC
1.98%
Others
0.95%
Seats summary
CCF
67.92%
Liberal
26.42%
Social Credit
5.66%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Leeson, Howard A., ed. (2001). Saskatchewan Politics: Into the Twenty-First Century. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Centre. p. 409. ISBN 0-88977-131-6.