1956 Nova Scotia general election

1956 Nova Scotia general election
← outgoing members members →
43 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly; 22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.83% 4.04pp
Premier before election; Henry Hicks; Liberal	Premier after election ; Robert Stanfield; Progressive Conservative

The 1956 Nova Scotia general election was held on 30 October 1956 to elect members of the 46th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservatives led by Robert Stanfield.

This was the first election the Liberals had fought after the death of their longtime charismatic leader, Angus L. Macdonald. Public Health Minister Harold Connolly became interim leader and premier following Macdonald's death in 1954, but was defeated at a leadership convention by Education Minister Henry Hicks. The convention exposed a sharp religious divide in the Liberal Party; Hicks was a Protestant and Connolly was a Catholic. Hicks was unable to heal the breach, and the Liberals were narrowly defeated, ending 23 years of Liberal rule.

Results

Results by party

↓
24	18	1
Progressive Conservative	Liberal	CCF

Official results ^[1]
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	1953	Dissolution	Elected	Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Progressive Conservative	Robert Stanfield	43	12	13	24	+12	160,966	48.58%	+5.19%
	Liberal	Henry Hicks	43	23	19	18	-5	159,656	48.18%	-0.98%
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Michael James MacDonald	11	2	2	1	-1	9,832	3.00%	-3.85%
	Independent		1	0	0	0	0	812	0.25%	-0.35%
	Vacant				3
Total valid votes								331,396	99.39%	-0.13%

Blank and invalid ballots								2,032	0.61%	+0.13%
Total			98	37	37	43	+6	333,428	100.00%	–
Registered voters / turnout								367,474	79.83%^[2]	+4.04%

Popular vote

PC			48.58%
Liberal			48.18%
CCF			3.00%
Independent			0.25%

Seats summary

PC			55.81%
Liberal			41.86%
CCF			2.33%

Retiring incumbents

Liberal

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		PC		CCF		Independent	Incumbent
Annapolis East		Henry Hicks 2,830 54.68%		Harry L. Ritcey 2,277 43.99%		Murray Alton Bent 69 1.33%			Henry Hicks Annapolis
Annapolis West		Peter M. Nicholson 2,523 53.84%		Leigh Minard Marshall 2,163 46.16%					New riding
Clare		Pierre E. Belliveau 2,046 52.60%		J. Fred Gaudet 1,844 47.40%					Pierre E. Belliveau
Digby		Victor Cardoza 2,559 48.65%		Malcolm Stewart Leonard 2,701 51.35%					Victor Cardoza
Hants West		Gerald Regan 3,300 47.69%		George Henry Wilson 3,405 49.21%		Ralph Loomer 214 3.09%			George Henry Wilson
Kings North		Eric Balcom 3,054 50.37%		George Arthur Boggs 3,009 49.63%					George Arthur Boggs Kings
Kings South		MacIntosh MacLeod 1,594 40.23%		Edward Haliburton 2,368 59.77%					Edward Haliburton Kings
Kings West		C.D. McLean 2,985 49.97%		Hiram Thomas 2,988 50.03%					New riding

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		PC		CCF	Independent	Incumbent
Lunenburg Centre		Harold Uhlman 3,843 49.03%		George O. Lohnes 3,995 50.97%				New riding
Lunenburg East		Kirk S. Hennigar 1,579 45.56%		R. Clifford Levy 1,887 54.44%				R. Clifford Levy Lunenburg
Lunenburg West		Frederick E.L. Fowke 2,500 49.34%		Harley J. Spence 2,567 50.66%				Harley J. Spence Lunenburg
Queens		Merrill D. Rawding 2,974 49.23%		W. S. Kennedy Jones 3,067 50.77%				W. S. Kennedy Jones
Shelburne		Wilfred Dauphinee 3,086 48.05%		James McKay Harding 3,337 51.95%				Wilfred Dauphinee
Yarmouth		Eric Spinney 4,876 26.68%		William Heartz Brown 4,007 21.93%				William Heartz Brown
Yarmouth		Willard O'Brien 5,438 29.76%		Raymond Z. Bourque 3,953 21.63%				Raymond Z. Bourque

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		PC		CCF		Independent	Incumbent
Colchester		Hector Hill 6,733 22.13%		Robert Stanfield 8,476 27.86%		Arnold Lynds 251 0.83%			Robert Stanfield
Colchester		Margaret Norrie 6,664 21.91%		George Isaac Smith 8,057 26.48%		William Wright 240 0.79%			George Isaac Smith
Cumberland Centre		Ralph F. Gilroy 1,803 39.70%		Stephen T. Pyke 2,738 60.30%					Stephen T. Pyke
Cumberland East		Walter Tremaine Purdy 4,303 49.41%		James A. Langille 4,406 50.59%					James A. Langille
Cumberland West		Allison T. Smith 2,618 54.82%		William Harmon Wasson 2,158 45.18%					Allison T. Smith
Hants East		Arthur W. MacKenzie 2,342 48.91%		Ernest M. Ettinger 2,392 49.96%		Malcolm F. Wheadon 130 1.13%			Vacant

Halifax/Dartmouth/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		PC		CCF		Independent	Incumbent
Halifax Centre		Gordon S. Cowan 5,642 52.91%		David Milsom 5,022 47.09%					James Edward Rutledge†
Halifax County-Dartmouth		Geoffrey W. Stevens 7,276 49.69%		C.J. Creighton 6,811 46.51%		Gerald Yetman 557 3.80%			New riding
Halifax East		Duncan MacMillan 3,015 57.84%		Reid Denton Sangster 2,198 42.16%					Geoffrey W. Stevens
Halifax North		John E. Ahern 8,773 53.10%		John A. O'Malley 7,748 46.90%					Vacant
Halifax Northwest		Ronald Manning Fielding 3,763 50.40%		S.E. Haverstock 3,573 47.86%		L.C. Wilson 130 1.74%			New riding
Halifax South		Edward F. Cragg 5,171 46.08%		Richard Donahoe 6,051 53.92%					Richard Donahoe
Halifax West		Charles H. Reardon 6,119 51.02%		William J. Dalton 5,875 48.98%					Ronald Manning Fielding

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		PC		CCF	Independent	Incumbent
Antigonish		Colin H. Chisholm 2,669 48.06%		William F. MacKinnon 2,884 51.94%				Colin H. Chisholm
Guysborough		Alexander W. Cameron 3,177 51.34%		R.S. Kaiser 3,011 48.66%				Arthur W. MacKenzie†
Pictou Centre		A.T. Logan 5,303 48.46%		Donald R. MacLeod 5,639 51.54%				Vacant
Pictou East		John W. MacDonald 2,749 49.95%		William A. MacLeod 2,754 50.05%				John W. MacDonald
Pictou West		Stewart W. Proudfoot 2,556 49.15%		Harvey Veniot 2,644 50.85%				Stewart W. Proudfoot

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		PC		CCF		Independent		Incumbent
Cape Breton Centre		James P. McNeil 2,569 37.75%		Charles P. Miller 1,289 18.94%		Michael James MacDonald 2,948 43.31%				Michael James MacDonald
Cape Breton East		C. Roy MacDonald 3,058 29.85%		Layton Fergusson 4,324 42.20%		Russell Cunningham 2,864 27.95%				Russell Cunningham
Cape Breton North		Alexander O'Handley 4,465 42.31%		John Michael Macdonald 6,088 57.69%						Alexander O'Handley
Cape Breton Nova		Gus Brown 1,682 25.68%		Percy Gaum 2,582 39.41%		John A. Chisholm 1,475 22.52%		Charles O'Connell 812 12.40%		New riding
Cape Breton South		John Smith MacIvor 4,450 41.66%		Donald C. MacNeil 5,101 47.76%		Albert Martin 1,130 10.58%				John Smith MacIvor
Cape Breton West		Malcolm A. Patterson 4,104 48.03%		Edward Manson 4,440 51.97%						Malcolm A. Patterson
Inverness		Joseph Clyde Nunn 4,415 27.80%		Archie Neil Chisholm 3,673 23.13%						Joseph Clyde Nunn
Inverness		Roderick MacLean 4,252 26.78%		A.L. Davis 3,539 22.29%						Roderick MacLean
Richmond		Earl Wallace Urquhart 2,636 53.82%		William C. Boudreau 2,262 46.18%						Earl Wallace Urquhart
Victoria		Carleton L. MacMillan 2,162 56.08%		Leonard Walter Jones 1,693 43.92%						Carleton L. MacMillan

References

^ "Election Returns 1956" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
^ While 335,066 votes were cast, only 293,371 electors voted as Colchester, Inverness and Yarmouth electors voted for two candidates.

[1] "Election Returns 1956" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 19, 2021.

[2] While 335,066 votes were cast, only 293,371 electors voted as Colchester, Inverness and Yarmouth electors voted for two candidates.

[1]

[2]

v t e Elections and referendums in Nova Scotia
General elections	1867 1871 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1897 1901 1906 1911 1916 1920 1925 1928 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1956 1960 1963 1967 1970 1974 1978 1981 1984 1988 1993 1998 1999 2003 2006 2009 2013 2017 2021 2024
Municipal elections	1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Referendums	1929 2004
See also: List of Nova Scotia by-elections