1956 Nova Scotia general election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates 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

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%	+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

• Arthur W. MacKenzie, Guysborough
• James Edward Rutledge, Halifax Centre

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
	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour
Annapolis East	Template:Canadian party colour|	Henry Hicks 2,830 54.68%		Harry L. Ritcey 2,277 43.99%		Murray Alton Bent 69 1.33%			Template:Canadian party colour|	Henry Hicks Annapolis
Annapolis West	Template:Canadian party colour|	Peter M. Nicholson 2,523 53.84%		Leigh Minard Marshall 2,163 46.16%					Template:Canadian party colour|	New riding
Clare	Template:Canadian party colour|	Pierre E. Belliveau 2,046 52.60%		J. Fred Gaudet 1,844 47.40%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Pierre E. Belliveau
Digby		Victor Cardoza 2,559 48.65%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Malcolm Stewart Leonard 2,701 51.35%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Victor Cardoza
Hants West		Gerald Regan 3,300 47.69%	Template:Canadian party colour|	George Henry Wilson 3,405 49.21%		Ralph Loomer 214 3.09%			Template:Canadian party colour|	George Henry Wilson
Kings North	Template:Canadian party colour|	Eric Balcom 3,054 50.37%		George Arthur Boggs 3,009 49.63%					Template:Canadian party colour|	George Arthur Boggs Kings
Kings South		MacIntosh MacLeod 1,594 40.23%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Edward Haliburton 2,368 59.77%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Edward Haliburton Kings
Kings West		C.D. McLean 2,985 49.97%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Hiram Thomas 2,988 50.03%					Template:Canadian party colour|	New riding

South Shore

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

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour
Colchester		Hector Hill 6,733 22.13%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Robert Stanfield 8,476 27.86%		Arnold Lynds 251 0.83%			Template:Canadian party colour|	Robert Stanfield
		Margaret Norrie 6,664 21.91%	Template:Canadian party colour|	George Isaac Smith 8,057 26.48%		William Wright 240 0.79%			Template:Canadian party colour|	George Isaac Smith
Cumberland Centre		Ralph F. Gilroy 1,803 39.70%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Stephen T. Pyke 2,738 60.30%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Stephen T. Pyke
Cumberland East		Walter Tremaine Purdy 4,303 49.41%	Template:Canadian party colour|	James A. Langille 4,406 50.59%					Template:Canadian party colour|	James A. Langille
Cumberland West	Template:Canadian party colour|	Allison T. Smith 2,618 54.82%		William Harmon Wasson 2,158 45.18%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Allison T. Smith
Hants East		Arthur W. MacKenzie 2,342 48.91%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Ernest M. Ettinger 2,392 49.96%		Malcolm F. Wheadon 130 1.13%			Template:Canadian party colour|	Vacant

Halifax/Dartmouth/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour
Halifax Centre	Template:Canadian party colour|	Gordon S. Cowan 5,642 52.91%		David Milsom 5,022 47.09%					Template:Canadian party colour|	James Edward Rutledge†
Halifax County-Dartmouth	Template:Canadian party colour|	Geoffrey W. Stevens 7,276 49.69%		C.J. Creighton 6,811 46.51%		Gerald Yetman 557 3.80%			Template:Canadian party colour|	New riding
Halifax East	Template:Canadian party colour|	Duncan MacMillan 3,015 57.84%		Reid Denton Sangster 2,198 42.16%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Geoffrey W. Stevens
Halifax North	Template:Canadian party colour|	John E. Ahern 8,773 53.10%		John A. O'Malley 7,748 46.90%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Vacant
Halifax Northwest	Template:Canadian party colour|	Ronald Manning Fielding 3,763 50.40%		S.E. Haverstock 3,573 47.86%		L.C. Wilson 130 1.74%			Template:Canadian party colour|	New riding
Halifax South		Edward F. Cragg 5,171 46.08%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Richard Donahoe 6,051 53.92%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Richard Donahoe
Halifax West	Template:Canadian party colour|	Charles H. Reardon 6,119 51.02%		William J. Dalton 5,875 48.98%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Ronald Manning Fielding

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour
Antigonish		Colin H. Chisholm 2,669 48.06%	Template:Canadian party colour|	William F. MacKinnon 2,884 51.94%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Colin H. Chisholm
Guysborough	Template:Canadian party colour|	Alexander W. Cameron 3,177 51.34%		R.S. Kaiser 3,011 48.66%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Arthur W. MacKenzie†
Pictou Centre		A.T. Logan 5,303 48.46%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Donald R. MacLeod 5,639 51.54%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Vacant
Pictou East		John W. MacDonald 2,749 49.95%	Template:Canadian party colour|	William A. MacLeod 2,754 50.05%					Template:Canadian party colour|	John W. MacDonald
Pictou West		Stewart W. Proudfoot 2,556 49.15%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Harvey Veniot 2,644 50.85%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Stewart W. Proudfoot

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour	colspan="2" style="width:1%; border-right:none;" Template:Canadian party colour
Cape Breton Centre		James P. McNeil 2,569 37.75%		Charles P. Miller 1,289 18.94%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Michael James MacDonald 2,948 43.31%			Template:Canadian party colour|	Michael James MacDonald
Cape Breton East		C. Roy MacDonald 3,058 29.85%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Layton Fergusson 4,324 42.20%		Russell Cunningham 2,864 27.95%			Template:Canadian party colour|	Russell Cunningham
Cape Breton North		Alexander O'Handley 4,465 42.31%	Template:Canadian party colour|	John Michael Macdonald 6,088 57.69%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Alexander O'Handley
Cape Breton Nova		Gus Brown 1,682 25.68%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Percy Gaum 2,582 39.41%		John A. Chisholm 1,475 22.52%		Charles O'Connell 812 12.40%	Template:Canadian party colour|	New riding
Cape Breton South		John Smith MacIvor 4,450 41.66%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Donald C. MacNeil 5,101 47.76%		Albert Martin 1,130 10.58%			Template:Canadian party colour|	John Smith MacIvor
Cape Breton West		Malcolm A. Patterson 4,104 48.03%	Template:Canadian party colour|	Edward Manson 4,440 51.97%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Malcolm A. Patterson
Inverness	Template:Canadian party colour|	Joseph Clyde Nunn 4,415 27.80%		Archie Neil Chisholm 3,673 23.13%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Joseph Clyde Nunn
	Template:Canadian party colour|	Roderick MacLean 4,252 26.78%		A.L. Davis 3,539 22.29%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Roderick MacLean
Richmond	Template:Canadian party colour|	Earl Wallace Urquhart 2,636 53.82%		William C. Boudreau 2,262 46.18%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Earl Wallace Urquhart
Victoria	Template:Canadian party colour|	Carleton L. MacMillan 2,162 56.08%		Leonard Walter Jones 1,693 43.92%					Template:Canadian party colour|	Carleton L. MacMillan