The 1949 Newfoundland general election was held on 27 May 1949 to elect members of the 29th General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was the first general election held since Newfoundland joined Canadian Confederation on 31 March 1949 and the first Newfoundland-wide election of any kind since the suspension of responsible government and the creation of the Commission of Government in 1934. The election was won by the Liberal Party.
Joey Smallwood was invited to form an interim administration when Newfoundland became a part of Canada just before midnight on March 31, 1949. This interim Smallwood administration continued until the results of the May election.
The election was held under the House of Assembly Act of 1932, with the same 27 seats, plus a new seat for Labrador, though the election in the Labrador seat was deferred until July 25. The five seats where Progressive Conservatives won had all voted heavily against confederation in the 1948 Newfoundland referendums.
Results
Party LeaderCandidatesSeats wonPopular vote (%)LiberalJoey Smallwood 2822110,45965.58%Harry Mews27554,72832.49%Other312,9801.77%Total valid votes168,16799.84%Blank or invalid ballots2680.16%Totals5828168,435100%
Results by district
Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
St. John's
|bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|St. John's East | |Geoffrey Carnell6,41724.51% || |John G. Higgins6,87826.27% | rowspan=4| |rowspan=4|New districts
|James Fagan6,27623.97% || |Frank Fogwill6,61125.25% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|St. John's West || |Oliver Vardy8,41126.55% | |Harry Mews7,52623.76%
|James Spratt8,36326.40% | |Michael Harrington7,38123.30%
Conception Bay
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Carbonear-Bay de Verde || |Herbert Pottle3,77069.85% | |Clayton Puddester1,62730.15% | rowspan=5| |rowspan=5|New districts |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Harbour Grace || |James Chalker2,06662.55% | |Richard Parsons1,23737.45% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Harbour Main-Bell Island | |Addison Bown2,92721.21% || |David Jackman4,25930.86%
|Myles Murray2,80720.34% || |Ronald Fahey3,80827.59% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Port de Grave || |George Makinson2,24364.73% | |W.R. Dawe1,22235.27%
Avalon and Burin Peninsulas
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Burin || |Phillip Forsey3,94790.47% | |Grace Sparkes4169.53%
| rowspan=6| |rowspan=6|New districts |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke rowspan=2|Ferryland |rowspan=2| |rowspan=2|Augustus Greene45613.82% |rowspan=2| |rowspan=2| || |Peter Cashin (Independent)2,50675.94%
|John O'Brien (Independent)33810.24% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Placentia-St. Mary's | |Michael Sinnott2,02248.28% || |Leonard Miller2,16651.72%
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Placentia West || |Patrick Canning3,10078.28% | |Leo Murphy86021.72%
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Trinity South || |Maxwell Button3,07072.71% | |Isaac Mercer1,15227.29%
Eastern and Central Newfoundland
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bonavista North || |Joey Smallwood4,21586.87% | |James Way63713.13% | rowspan=7| |rowspan=7|New districts |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Bonavista South || |Ted Russell3,64368.63% | |Walter Young1,58331.37% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fogo || |Gordon Janes3,12183.83% | |Harold Earle60216.17% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Grand Falls || |Edward Spencer7,01481.56% | |Lewis Cooper1,58618.44% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Green Bay || |Baxter Morgan2,90187.12% | |Roy Manuel42912.88% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Trinity North || |Samuel Hefferton3,72778.40% | |James Mifflin1,02721.60% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Twillingate || |Leslie Curtis3,10091.36% | |Cyril Parkins2938.64%
Southern and Western Newfoundland
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Burgeo-La Poile || |Herman Quinton3,22592.65% | |Edgar Skinner2567.35%
| rowspan=6| |rowspan=6|New districts |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|Fortune and Hermitage || |John R. Courage4,03292.54% | |Douglas Pinsent3257.46%
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Humber || |Charles Ballam7,17483.25% | |Pierce Fudge1,30715.17% | |Louis Bonnell (Independent)1361.58% |- |bgcolor=whitesmoke|St. Barbe || |Reginald Sparkes2,58893.16% | |George Whiteley1906.84%
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|St. George's-Port au Port || |William Keough4,07681.50% | |John Dawson92518.50%
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|White Bay || |Sam Drover4,02390.61% | |Frederick Wells4179.39%
Labrador
|bgcolor=whitesmoke|Labrador || |Harold Horwood1,26890.51% | |Samuel D. Grant1339.49% || |New district
Notes
References
Further reading