1951 Prince Edward Island general election

1951 Prince Edward Island general election

← 1947 April 26, 1951 (1951-04-26) 1955 →
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All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   PC Leader J. Walter Jones Reginald Bell Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1943 1950 Leader's seat 4th Queens 2nd Queens Last election 24 seats, 50.3% 6 seats, 45.3% Seats won 24 6 Seat change Popular vote 40,847 36,921 Percentage 51.6% 46.7% Swing 1.3pp 1.4pp
Premier before election J. Walter Jones Liberal Premier after election J. Walter Jones Liberal

The 1951 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on April 26, 1951.^[1]

The governing Liberals of Premier J. Walter Jones held on to their majority in the Legislature over the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Reginald Bell, who was elected leader of the party in 1950. Both parties kept the same number of seats they earned in the previous election, though eight seats did change hands.

The democratic socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation fell back from their previous high in 1947, losing over half of their vote. This would be the last election contested by the CCF or any third party in provincial PEI elections until the CCF's successor, the New Democratic Party, ran in by-elections in 1972.

This election featured the first female candidate for office, Hilda Ramsay, who came in third while running for the CCF as Councillor in 3rd Prince.^[2]

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district.^[3]