1956 Newfoundland general election

The 1956 Newfoundland general election was held on 2 October 1956 to elect members of the 31st General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal party.

1956 Newfoundland general election

October 2, 1956
36 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 19 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	61.0%
First party Second party   PC Leader Joey Smallwood Malcolm Hollett Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1949 1953 Leader's seat Bonavista North St. John's West Last election 24 4 Seats won 32 4 Seat change 8 Popular vote 75,883 36,591 Percentage 66.3% 32.0% Swing 2.7pp 3.6pp
Premier before election Joey Smallwood Liberal Premier after election Joey Smallwood Liberal

Results

	Party	Leader	1951	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Liberal	Joey Smallwood	24	32		75,883	66.3%
	Progressive Conservative	Malcolm Hollett	4	4		36,591	32.0%
	CCF	Sam Drover	0	0		*	*
	Other		0	0	0%	1,964	1.7%
Totals			28	36	-	114,438	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
St. John's Centre 63.19% turnout		James Gibbs 2,164 35.99%		Augustine Duffy 3,848 64.01%		New district
St. John's East 71.08% turnout		Edward Thorburn 1,839 32.60%		James Higgins 3,802 67.40%		James Higgins
						Frank Fogwill†
St. John's North 67.88% turnout		George Nightingale 2,694 56.32%		Derrick Bowring 2,089 43.68%		New district
St. John's South 66.95% turnout		Hubert Kelly 2,590 43.93%		William Browne 3,306 56.07%		New district
St. John's West				Malcolm Hollett Won by acclamation		William Browne‡ (ran in St. John's South)
						Malcolm Hollett

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		CCF		Other
Bell Island 69.52% turnout		Joseph O'Driscoll 1,912 60.05%		David Jackman 901 28.30%		Ray Littlejohn 43 1.35%		Michael Hawco (Independent) 328 10.30%		New district
Carbonear-Bay de Verde 59.38% turnout		George Clarke 2,699 70.14%		P. W. Crummey 1,052 27.34%		Stanley Atkins 97 2.52%				Herbert Pottle†
Harbour Grace 70.23% turnout		Claude Sheppard 1,714 58.98%		Richard Parsons 544 18.72%		Israel Gosse 41 1.41%		Frank Archibald (Independent) 607 20.89%		James Chalker‡ (ran in St. Barbe)
Harbour Main		Philip Lewis 2,251 30.55%		Arthur Harnett 1,648 22.37%						David Jackman‡ Harbour Main-Bell Island (ran in Bell Island)
		Matthew Whelan 1,861 25.26%		James A. McGrath 1,608 21.82%						Philip Lewis Harbour Main-Bell Island
Port de Grave 56.12% turnout		Llewellyn Strange 1,853 75.94%		John Pinsent 587 24.06%						Isaac Mercer‡ (ran in Fogo)

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		CCF
Ferryland 76.33% turnout		Myles Murray 1,941 69.22%		Rex Renouf 863 30.78%				Myles Murray
Placentia East 62.55% turnout		Greg Power 1,849 76.82%				Esau Thoms 558 23.18%		Greg Power Placentia-St. Mary's
St. Mary's 75.67% turnout		James M. McGrath 1,163 67.50%		Larry Daley 560 32.50%				New district
Trinity South 51.21% turnout		Samuel Hefferton 2,419 81.94%				Charles Bailey 533 18.06%		Maxwell Button†

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		CCF
Bonavista North 57.17% turnout		Joey Smallwood 3,429 93.00%				Paul Thoms 258 7.00%		Joey Smallwood
Bonavista South 50.32% turnout		Uriah Strickland 2,490 71.53%		Rossy Barbour 905 26.00%		Guy Dixon 86 2.47%		Clyde Brown†
Fogo		Isaac Mercer Won by acclamation						Gordon Janes†
Trinity North 50.15% turnout		Arthur Mifflin 3,038 88.65%				Solomon Drodge 389 11.35%		Samuel Hefferton‡ (ran in Trinity South)

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Gander 68.97% turnout		Beaton Abbott 4,045 75.02%		Bennett Elliott 1,347 24.98%				New district
Grand Falls 76.69% turnout		Edward Spencer 2,680 55.82%		Kevin Griffin 2,121 44.18%				Edward Spencer
Green Bay 67.04% turnout		William Smallwood 2,529 78.61%		Roy Manuel 497 15.45%		Cyril Pelley (Independent) 191 5.94%		Baxter Morgan†
Twillingate 55.78% turnout		Leslie Curtis 2,380 87.05%		Arthur Butcher 354 12.95%				Leslie Curtis
White Bay South 66.43% turnout		Frederick W. Rowe 1,437 84.23%				Sam Drover (CCF) 269 15.77%		Sam Drover White Bay

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		CCF
Burgeo-La Poile 64.47% turnout		John Cheeseman 2,201 68.14%		Allan Evans 992 30.71%		Willis Parsons 37 1.15%		George Norman†
Burin 69.20% turnout		Eric S. Jones 3,219 83.96%		Frank Pearce 615 16.04%				Phillip Forsey†
Fortune and Hermitage 64.46% turnout		John Courage 3,337 85.00%		Samuel Walters 589 15.00%				John Courage
Placentia West		Patrick Canning Won by acclamation						Patrick Canning

Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Humber East 74.84% turnout		John Forsey 3,058 60.59%		Woodrow Hunt 1,812 35.90%		Darius Powell (Independent) 177 3.51%		New district
Humber West 78.57% turnout		Charles Ballam 3,923 61.11%		William Young 1,860 38.89%				Charles Ballam Humber
Port au Port 73.93% turnout		Stephen Smith 2,019 67.71%		William Goodyear 963 32.29%				New district
St. Barbe 66.25% turnout		James Chalker 2,187 79.64%		Wallace Maynard 559 20.36%				Reginald Sparkes†
St. George's 78.23% turnout		William Keough 1,695 59.49%		Richard White 1,154 40.51%				William Keough St. George's-Port au Port
White Bay North 75.05% turnout		Maxwell Lane 2,414 91.06%		James Tucker 138 5.21%		Gilbert Simms (CCF) 99 3.73%		New district

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Labrador North 68.60% turnout		Earl Winsor 873 87.21%		Roderick Roberts 128 12.79%		Frederick W. Rowe‡ Labrador (ran in White Bay South)
Labrador South		George Sellars Won by acclamation				New district

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #31: October 6, 1956". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved April 12, 2025.