1957 British Guiana general election

General elections were held in British Guiana on 12 August 1957.[1] The result was a victory for the faction of the People's Progressive Party led by Cheddi Jagan, who remained Prime Minister.[2]

1957 British Guiana general election

← 1953 12 August 1957 1961 →

14 seats in the Legislative Council
8 seats needed for a majority
Registered212,518
Turnout55.79%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Cheddi Jagan Forbes Burnham
Party PPP-Jaganite PPP-Burnhamite
Seats won 9 3
Popular vote 55,552 29,802
Percentage 47.51% 25.49%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Lionel Luckhoo John Carter
Party NLF UDP
Seats won 1 1
Popular vote 13,465 9,564
Percentage 11.51% 8.18%

Premier before election

None

Elected Premier

Cheddi Jagan
PPP

Campaign

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A total of 55 candidates contested the elections, including six independents. The National Labour Front was the only party to run a candidate in every Legislative Council seat, with the two factions of the PPP both contesting 13 seats. The United Democratic Party (UDP) contested eight seats and the Guiana National Party one.[3]

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
People's Progressive Party (Jaganite)55,55247.519
People's Progressive Party (Burnhamite)29,80225.493
National Labour Front13,46511.511New
United Democratic Party9,5648.181New
Guiana National Party1990.170New
Independents8,3577.150–4
Total116,939100.0014–10
Valid votes116,93998.63
Invalid/blank votes1,6251.37
Total votes118,564100.00
Registered voters/turnout212,51855.79
Source: GECOM

Elected members

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Constituency Member Party
Berbice River Ajodha Singh People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Central Demerara Balram Singh Rai People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Demerara-Essequibo Ram Karran People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Demerara River Fred Bowman People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Eastern Berbice Cheddi Jagan People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Eastern Demerara Edward Balkaran Beharry People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Essequibo River Brindley Benn People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Georgetown Central Forbes Burnham People's Progressive Party (Burnham)
Georgetown North Andrew Leonard Jackson People's Progressive Party (Burnham)
Georgetown South Jainarine Singh People's Progressive Party (Burnham)
New Amsterdam Rudy Kendall United Democratic Party
North Western District Stephen Campbell National Labour Front
Western Berbice Sheik Mohamed Saffee People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Western Essequibo Janet Jagan People's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Source: Parliament of Guyana

Aftermath

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After the elections, the Burnhamite faction of the PPP merged with the UDP to form the People's National Congress.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p354 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. ^ "The British Declassified Files on British Guiana - 1958-1964".
  3. ^ 1957 Elections Archived 2015-06-22 at the Wayback Machine GECOM