The 1958 Canadian federal election was held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election. It transformed Prime MinisterJohn Diefenbaker's minority into the largest majority government in Canadian history and the second-largest percentage of the popular vote. Although the Tories would surpass their 1958 seat total in the 1984 election, the 1958 result (achieved in a smaller House) remains unmatched both in terms of percentage of seats (78.5%) and the size of the government majority over all opposition parties (a 151-seat majority). Voter turnout was 79.4%.[1]
Diefenbaker called a snap election and capitalized on three factors:
Nationally, the Liberals had just chosen a new leader, Lester Pearson, who had given an ill-advised maiden speech in Commons that asked Diefenbaker to resign and recommend the Governor General allow the Liberals to form a government without an election due to the recent economic downturn. Diefenbaker seized on the remark by describing a series of classified Liberal Cabinet documents stating that the economy would face a downturn in that year. This contrasted heavily with the Liberals' 1957 campaign promises. As election day drew near, the Liberals realized they had no chance of returning to power and hoped only to hold onto at least 100 seats. They were cut down to only 48, at the time the smallest seat count in their history.
A turnaround in Quebec: Quebec had been largely Liberal since the Conscription Crisis of 1917, but upon the resignation of former Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, the province had no favourite son leader, as they had since 1948, and its voters were open to new options. Seeking a greater voice in Ottawa, Quebec PremierMaurice Duplessis' Union Nationale used their party machine to ally with the Tories, allowing Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservatives to win two thirds of the seats in what had been a Liberal stronghold for a generation. While the Liberals finished only four percentage points behind the Tories in Quebec, much of their vote was wasted racking up large majorities in their traditional safest seats. Nevertheless, the 25 seats the Liberals won in Quebec accounted for more than half of their decimated caucus and, on a proportional basis, was their best performance after Newfoundland.
A collapse in support for the Social Credit Party, which lost all 19 of its seats. While it took half the votes it had taken in 1957, third parties historically do not do well in landslides, especially in first-past-the-post voting systems. Prior to the 1957 election, the Socreds were seen as a credible threat to replace the Tories as the main right-wing party in the country, as they had done in British Columbia and Alberta, but the popularity of the Diefenbaker government persuaded many Social Credit supporters to abandon the party. That not only allowed the Tories to pick up Social Credit seats, but also proved decisive in many seats that were four-way races between the PCs, Social Credit, Liberals, and CCF. Notably, the Tories swept all seventeen seats in Alberta, where they had previously held just three seats to Social Credit's thirteen (and Liberal one seat). The election proved to be the start of a long decline for the federal Social Credit Party. It would never seriously challenge the PCs dominance again in federal politics (even in the West) although the BC Social Credit Party would govern that province for all but three years until 1991.
^Pomfret, R. "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Elections Canada. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
Further readingedit
LeDuc, Lawrence; Pammett, Jon H.; McKenzie, Judith L.; Turcotte, André (2010). Dynasties and Interludes: Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics. Toronto: Dundurn Press. ISBN978-1-55488-886-3.
Beck, James Murray (1968). Pendulum of Power; Canada's Federal Elections. Scarborough: Prentice-Hall of Canada. ISBN978-0-13-655670-1.
External linksedit
Electoral Results by Party, on Parliament of Canada site 2014-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
January 01, 1970
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 1958 Canadian federal election news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message The 1958 Canadian federal election was held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31 1958 just nine months after the 23rd election It transformed Prime Minister John Diefenbaker s minority into the largest majority government in Canadian history and the second largest percentage of the popular vote Although the Tories would surpass their 1958 seat total in the 1984 election the 1958 result achieved in a smaller House remains unmatched both in terms of percentage of seats 78 5 and the size of the government majority over all opposition parties a 151 seat majority Voter turnout was 79 4 1 1958 Canadian federal election 1957 March 31 1958 1962 outgoing memberselected members 265 seats in the House of Commons133 seats needed for a majorityTurnout79 4 5 3pp First party Second party Leader John Diefenbaker Lester B Pearson Party Progressive Conservative Liberal Leader since December 14 1956 January 16 1958 Leader s seat Prince Albert Algoma East Last election 112 105 Seats won 208 48 Seat change 96 57 Popular vote 3 910 852 2 459 700 Percentage 53 67 33 75 Swing 14 64pp 8 58pp Third party Fourth party Leader Major James Coldwell Solon Earl Low Party Co operative Commonwealth Social Credit Leader since March 22 1942 April 6 1944 Leader s seat Rosetown Biggar lost re election Peace River lost re election Last election 25 19 Seats won 8 0 Seat change 17 19 Popular vote 692 398 188 717 Percentage 9 50 2 59 Swing 1 21pp 4 03ppResults by electoral district shaded by winners vote shareResults by province and territoryThe Canadian parliament after the 1958 electionPrime Minister before election John Diefenbaker Progressive Conservative Prime Minister after election John Diefenbaker Progressive Conservative Contents 1 Overview 2 National results 3 Vote and seat summaries 4 Results by province 5 See also 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksOverview editDiefenbaker called a snap election and capitalized on three factors Nationally the Liberals had just chosen a new leader Lester Pearson who had given an ill advised maiden speech in Commons that asked Diefenbaker to resign and recommend the Governor General allow the Liberals to form a government without an election due to the recent economic downturn Diefenbaker seized on the remark by describing a series of classified Liberal Cabinet documents stating that the economy would face a downturn in that year This contrasted heavily with the Liberals 1957 campaign promises As election day drew near the Liberals realized they had no chance of returning to power and hoped only to hold onto at least 100 seats They were cut down to only 48 at the time the smallest seat count in their history A turnaround in Quebec Quebec had been largely Liberal since the Conscription Crisis of 1917 but upon the resignation of former Prime Minister Louis St Laurent the province had no favourite son leader as they had since 1948 and its voters were open to new options Seeking a greater voice in Ottawa Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis Union Nationale used their party machine to ally with the Tories allowing Diefenbaker s Progressive Conservatives to win two thirds of the seats in what had been a Liberal stronghold for a generation While the Liberals finished only four percentage points behind the Tories in Quebec much of their vote was wasted racking up large majorities in their traditional safest seats Nevertheless the 25 seats the Liberals won in Quebec accounted for more than half of their decimated caucus and on a proportional basis was their best performance after Newfoundland A collapse in support for the Social Credit Party which lost all 19 of its seats While it took half the votes it had taken in 1957 third parties historically do not do well in landslides especially in first past the post voting systems Prior to the 1957 election the Socreds were seen as a credible threat to replace the Tories as the main right wing party in the country as they had done in British Columbia and Alberta but the popularity of the Diefenbaker government persuaded many Social Credit supporters to abandon the party That not only allowed the Tories to pick up Social Credit seats but also proved decisive in many seats that were four way races between the PCs Social Credit Liberals and CCF Notably the Tories swept all seventeen seats in Alberta where they had previously held just three seats to Social Credit s thirteen and Liberal one seat The election proved to be the start of a long decline for the federal Social Credit Party It would never seriously challenge the PCs dominance again in federal politics even in the West although the BC Social Credit Party would govern that province for all but three years until 1991 National results edit nbsp Party Party leader ofcandidates Seats Popular vote 1957 Elected Change pp Change Progressive Conservative John Diefenbaker 265 111 208 87 4 3 908 633 53 66 14 85 Liberal Lester B Pearson 264 104 48 53 8 2 432 953 33 40 7 35 Co operative Commonwealth M J Coldwell 169 25 8 68 0 692 668 9 51 1 20 Liberal Labour 1 1 1 0 11 956 0 16 Social Credit Solon Low 82 19 100 188 356 2 59 3 99 Independent 9 2 100 14 211 0 20 0 87 Independent Liberal 10 2 100 12 054 0 17 1 25 Labor Progressive Tim Buck 18 9 769 0 13 0 02 Candidats des electeurs Real Caouette 1 8 276 0 11 0 01 Independent PC 5 1 100 2 097 0 03 0 19 Socialist 2 1 113 0 02 Capital familial H G Grenier 1 968 0 01 Radical chretien 1 687 0 01 Independent SC 1 361 x 0 04 Ouvrier canadien 1 243 x Independent Conservative 1 122 x Total 831 265 265 7 284 467 100 00 Sources http www elections ca History of Federal Ridings since 1867 Archived 2008 12 04 at the Wayback Machine Notes Previous refers to standings at previous election not to standings in the House of Commons at dissolution The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election x less than 0 005 of the popular voteVote and seat summaries editPopular vote PC 53 67 Liberal 33 75 CCF 9 50 Social Credit 2 59 Others 0 84 Seat totals PC 78 49 Liberal 18 11 CCF 3 01 Others 0 37 Results by province editParty name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL YK NW Total Progressive Conservative Seats 18 17 16 14 67 50 7 12 4 2 1 208 Vote 49 4 59 9 51 4 56 7 56 4 49 6 54 1 57 0 62 2 45 2 54 5 42 8 53 7 Liberal Seats 14 25 3 5 1 48 Vote 16 1 13 7 19 6 21 6 32 1 45 6 43 4 38 4 37 5 54 4 43 3 57 2 33 4 Co operative Commonwealth Seats 4 1 3 8 Vote 24 5 4 4 28 4 19 6 10 5 2 3 1 8 4 5 0 3 0 2 9 5 Liberal Labour Seats 1 1 Vote 0 5 0 2 Total Seats 22 17 17 14 85 75 10 12 4 7 1 1 265 Parties that won no seats Social Credit Vote 9 6 21 6 0 4 1 8 0 3 0 6 0 7 2 6 Independent Vote xx xx 0 1 0 6 0 2 Independent Liberal Vote 0 6 0 2 0 2 Labor Progressive Vote 0 4 0 3 0 1 0 4 0 1 0 1 0 1 C des electeurs Vote 0 4 0 1 Independent PC Vote 0 1 0 1 xx Socialist Vote xx xx xx Capitale familiale Vote xx xx Radical chretien Vote xx xx Independent SC Vote 0 1 xx Ouvrier canadien Vote xx xx Ind Conservative Vote 2 3 xx xx less than 0 05 of the popular voteSee also edit nbsp Canada portal nbsp Politics portal List of Canadian federal general elections List of political parties in Canada 24th Canadian ParliamentReferences edit Pomfret R Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums Elections Canada Elections Canada Retrieved February 23 2014 Further reading editLeDuc Lawrence Pammett Jon H McKenzie Judith L Turcotte Andre 2010 Dynasties and Interludes Past and Present in Canadian Electoral Politics Toronto Dundurn Press ISBN 978 1 55488 886 3 Beck James Murray 1968 Pendulum of Power Canada s Federal Elections Scarborough Prentice Hall of Canada ISBN 978 0 13 655670 1 External links editThe Elections of 1957 and 1958 by P E Bryden Electoral Results by Party on Parliament of Canada site Archived 2014 03 29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1958 Canadian federal election amp oldid 1219377447, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
