1956 Nova Scotia general election
October 30, 1956
43 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly
22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout79.83% Increase4.04pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Lib
CCF
Leader Robert Stanfield Henry Hicks Michael James MacDonald
Party Progressive Conservative Liberal Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since November 10, 1948 September 9, 1954 1953
Leader's seat Colchester Annapolis
ran in Annapolis East (won)		 Cape Breton Centre
Last election 12 23 2
Seats won 24 18 1
Seat change Increase12 Decrease5 Decrease1
Popular vote 162,678 159,666 9,878
Percentage 48.55% 47.65% 2.95%
Swing Increase5.37pp Decrease1.27pp Decrease3.87pp
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
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
LiberalPCCCFIndependent
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
LiberalPCCCFIndependent
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
Willard O'Brien
5,438
29.76%		 Raymond Z. Bourque
3,953
21.63%		 Raymond Z. Bourque

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district Candidates Incumbent
LiberalPCCCFIndependent
Colchester Hector Hill
6,733
22.13%		 Robert Stanfield
8,476
27.86%		 Arnold Lynds
251
0.83%		 Robert Stanfield
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
LiberalPCCCFIndependent
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
LiberalPCCCFIndependent
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
LiberalPCCCFIndependent
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
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

  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.
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