1959 Alberta general election

Alberta general election, 1959

June 18, 1959 (1959-06-18)
65 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 33 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Ernest Manning Cam Kirby Party Social Credit Progressive Conservative Leader since May 31, 1943 1958 Leader's seat Strathcona East Red Deer (lost re-election) Last election 37 seats, 46.4% 3 seats, 9.2% Seats before 37 3 Seats won 61 1 Seat change 24 2 Popular vote 230,283 98,730 Percentage 55.7% 23.9% Swing 9,3% 14.7%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Grant MacEwan Floyd Albin Johnson Party Liberal Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since November 1, 1958 1957 Leader's seat Calgary-North (lost re-election) ran in Denvegan (lost) Last election 4 seats, 31.1% 2 seats, 8.2% Seats before 15 2 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 14 2 Popular vote 57,408 17,899 Percentage 13.9% 4.3% Swing 17.2% 3.9%
Premier before election Ernest Manning Social Credit Premier-designate Ernest Manning Social Credit

The Alberta general election of 1959 was the fourteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 18, 1959 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Ernest C. Manning, in his fifth election as party leader and provincial premier, led the Social Credit Party to its seventh consecutive term in government, with 55% of the popular vote, and all but four of the sixty five seats in the legislature.

Social Credit was also helped by a split in the opposition vote: whereas in the 1955 election, opponents were largely united behind the Liberal Party, in this election the vote was divided between the Liberals and the resurgent Progressive Conservative Party under the leadership of Cam Kirby, won almost 15% of the popular vote, placing ahead of the Liberals whose leader, Grant MacEwan lost his Calgary seat. The Tories and Liberals each won only one seat in the legislature while the Alberta CCF was shut out of the legislature for the first time in seventeen years.

The Social Credit government did away with the Instant-runoff voting system, that had been in place in the rural constituencies, and the Single Transferable Vote system in Edmonton and Calgary, both of which had been in place since 1924. The move was made to standardize and simplify voting results across the province. Under single transferable vote and instant-runoff voting, results would take up to five days to count all the possible vote transfers, before anyone was declared elected. This was especially problematic, in Edmonton that elected seven members. As well, the government in 1955 had lost a few members in rural constituencies due to IRV, when they had received the largest portion of the vote in the constituency but were not elected to the seat after re-distribution of the ballots in the second round. The cancellation of IRV system was meant to prevent this in the future.

As a result, 1959 saw the biggest increase in new districts since 1909 mostly in Calgary and Edmonton. The change was met by some harsh criticism at the time, for failing to consult the public, but it did little to hurt the Social Credit government at the polls.

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular Vote
				1955	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change	Social Credit	Ernest C. Manning	64	37	61	+64.9%	230,283	55.69%	+9.27%	Progressive Conservative	Cam Kirby	60	3	1	−66.7%	98,730	23.88%	+14.69%
	Liberal	Grant MacEwan	51	15	1	−93.9%	57,408	13.88%	−17.25%
	Independent Social Credit		2	1	1	-	2,393	0.58%	−0.14%
	Coalition	Frank Gainer	1	1	1	-	2,279	0.55%	−0.66%	Co-operative Commonwealth	Floyd Albin Johnson	32	2	-	−100%	17,899	4.33%	−3.91%	Independent		2	1	-	−100%	3,640	0.88%	−0.25%
	Labor–Progressive		4	-	-	-	884	0.21%	−0.69%
Total			216	61	65	+6.6%	413,516	100%
Source: Elections Alberta

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

14th Alberta Legislative Assembly
	District	Member	Party	Acadia-Coronation	Marion Kelts	Social Credit	Alexandra	Anders Aalborg	Social Credit	Athabasca	Antonio Aloisio	Social Credit
	Banff-Cochrane	Frank Gainer	Coalition	Bonnyville	Karl Nordstrom	Social Credit	Bow Valley-Empress	William Delday	Social Credit	Bruce	Earl Hardy	Social Credit	Calgary Bowness	Charles Johnston	Social Credit	Calgary Centre	Frederick C. Colborne	Social Credit	Calgary Glenmore	Ernest Watkins	Progressive Conservative	Calgary North	Rose Wilkinson	Social Credit	Calgary North East	Albert Ludwig	Social Credit	Calgary South East	Arthur J. Dixon	Social Credit	Calgary West	Donald S. Fleming	Social Credit	Camrose	Chester Sayers	Social Credit	Cardston	Edgar Hinman	Social Credit	Clover Bar	Floyd Baker	Social Credit	Cypress	Harry Strom	Social Credit	Didsbury	James Lawrence Owens	Social Credit	Drumheller	Gordon Taylor	Social Credit	Dunvegan	Joseph Scruggs	Social Credit	Edmonton Centre	Ambrose Holowach	Social Credit	Edmonton North	Ethel Wilson	Social Credit	Edmonton Norwood	William Tomyn	Social Credit	Edmonton North East	Lou Heard	Social Credit	Edmonton North West	Edgar Gerhart	Social Credit	Edson	Norman Willmore	Social Credit	Gleichen	George Bell	Social Credit	Grande Prairie	Ira McLaughlin	Social Credit	Grouard	Roy Ells	Social Credit	Hand Hills	Clinton Keith French	Social Credit	Jasper West	Richard Jamieson	Social Credit
	Lac La Biche	Michael Maccagno	Liberal	Lac Ste. Anne	William Patterson	Social Credit	Lacombe	Allen Patrick	Social Credit
	Leduc	Ronald Ansley	Independent Social Credit	Lethbridge	John Landeryou	Social Credit	Little Bow	Peter Dawson	Social Credit	Macleod	James Hartley	Social Credit	Medicine Hat	Elizabeth Robinson	Social Credit	Okotoks-High River	Ernest George Hansell	Social Credit	Olds	Roderick Macleod	Social Credit	Peace River	William Gilliland	Social Credit	Pembina	Robin Jorgenson	Social Credit	Pincher Creek-Crowsnest	William Kovach	Social Credit	Ponoka	Glen Johnston	Social Credit	Red Deer	William Ure	Social Credit	Redwater	John Dubetz	Social Credit	Rocky Mountain House	Alfred Hooke	Social Credit	Sedgewick	Jack Hillman	Social Credit	Spirit River	Adolph Fimrite	Social Credit	St. Albert	Keith Everitt	Social Credit	St. Paul	Raymond Reierson	Social Credit	Stettler	Galen Norris	Social Credit	Stony Plain	Cornelia Wood	Social Credit	Strathcona Centre	Joseph Donovan Ross	Social Credit	Strathcona East	Ernest Manning	Social Credit	Strathcona West	Randolph McKinnon	Social Credit	Taber	Roy Lee	Social Credit	Vegreville	Alex Gordey	Social Credit	Vermilion	Ashley Cooper	Social Credit	Wainwright	Henry Ruste	Social Credit	Warner	Leonard Halmrast	Social Credit	Wetaskiwin	John Wingblade	Social Credit	Willingdon	Nicholas Melnyk	Social Credit

See also

• List of Alberta political parties