General elections were held in British Honduras on 28 April 1954, the first held under universal suffrage.Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p100 The new constitution replaced the Legislative Council with a Legislative Assembly, which had nine elected members, three officials and three appointed members. The result was a decisive victory for the pro-independence People's United Party, which won eight of the nine seats in a coalition with the General Workers' Union.
The pro-colonial National Party won the remaining seat, with NP candidate Charles Westby prevailing in the Toledo constituency. Background Prior to 1954, there were only six elected seats in the British Honduras Legislative Assembly. Eligibility to vote was limited to British subjects, that had lived in the colony for at least a year, whom owned property worth over $96, paid more than $6 in property tax or had an annual salary of over $300.
In March 1954, a new constitution for British Honduras was introduced, guaranteeing universal suffrage and nine directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly. There would also be 3 seats for people nominated by the Governor of British Honduras and 3 for paid officials. The two main camps contesting the election were the anti-colonial People's United Party with the General Worker's Union and the pro-British National Party with independents.
Due to concerns about Communist influence from neighbouring South American countries, the Governor Patrick Muir Renison put out a broadcast threatening to cancel the elections if "emotionalism" did not cease. He later stated at a news conference that: "the election thus far has been singularly free of foreign intervention."
Results
By division The results for each division is as follows: DivisionTurnoutPolitical partyCandidateVotes%Belize North2,474People's United PartyGeorge Price75.0IndependentJohn Smith25.0Belize Rural1,445People's United PartyHerman Jex51.8IndependentFred Hunter39.0National PartyMBL Wilson9.3Belize South1,854People's United PartyPhillip Goldson52.7National PartyHerbert Fuller47.3Belize West2,626People's United PartyLeigh Richardson71.7National PartyLionel Francis22.5IndependentFrederick Westby5.8Cayo1,300People's United PartyEnrique De Paz85.5IndependentS.A. McKinstry14.5Corozal1,111People's United PartyJose Leon Chin63.2IndependentWilliam Gegg36.8Orange Walk878People's United PartyGeorge Flowers64.6National PartyWilliam George35.4Stann Creek2,023People's United PartyNathaniel Cacho60.9National PartyCatarino Benguche39.1Toledo935National PartyCharles Westby54.0People's United PartyGeorge Gardiner46.0
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