The 1952 Alberta general election was held on August 5, 1952, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
Ernest C. Manning in his third election as leader of the Social Credit Party, and its first election since the Social Credit Party paid off Alberta's first debt in 1949, led it to its fifth consecutive election victory, increasing its share of the popular vote, and winning fifty two of the sixty one seats in the legislature.
The Liberal Party formed the official opposition with only four seats. The Conservative Party returned to Alberta politics again, nominating candidates both under the "Conservative" banner, and under the "Progressive Conservative" banner recently adopted by its federal counterpart. The party won two seats, one under each banner. The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation won two seats, one that of leader Elmer Roper. The remaining seat was won by an Independent.
This provincial election, like the previous six, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the cities. All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting.
Voter turn-out was 59.4 per cent in this election.A Report on Alberta Elections, p. 75
Electoral redistribution An Act was passed in 1950 that provided for the increase in the number of MLAs from 57 to 61, upon the next election. Calgary now returned six MLAs and Edmonton seven (instead of the five each previously had), and the following other changes were made:
Abolished NewNew districts Bonnyvillefrom part of St. PaulRenaming of districts Beaver River Lac La Bichealso receiving part of Athabasca
Results
+Elections to the 12th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1952)PartyLeaderCandidatesFirst-preference votesSeats Votes ± % Change (pp) 1948 1952 ±Ernest C. Manning61 167,789 3,786 56.24 512James H. Prowse55 66,738 14,083 22.37 21Elmer Roper41 41,929 14,458 14.05 25 6,271 6,271 2.10 –17 4,700 4,700 1.57 –16 4,203 1,245 1.41 1Independent Citizen's AssociationDid not campaignJohn P. Page campaigned and won re-election as a Conservative. 11 1 2,927 2,071 0.98 2 1,132 240 0.47 1 705 705 0.24 1 655 655 0.22 1 527 3,052 0.18 1 463 463 0.16 1 296 296 0.10 Total 183298,335 100.00% Rejected ballots 20,613 2,906 Turnout 318,948 6,448 59.4% 4.1 Registered voters 537,170 47,859
MLAs elected
Synopsis of results + Results by riding1952 Alberta general election (all except Calgary, Edmonton and servicemember MLAs) Riding First-preference votesThere were no Conservative or PC candidates outside Calgary and Edmonton. Turnoutincluding spoilt ballots Final counts Winning partyName SC CCF Total SC CCF 1948 1952 Acadia-CoronationAcclamation SC SC Alexandra2,412 1,071 – – – 3,483 58.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC Athabasca2,012 623 864 – 463 3,96266.3%Elected on 1st count SC SC Banff-Cochrane1,845 – 1,035 491 – 3,371 56.8%Elected on 1st count I-SC SCBonnyville2,497 – 1,290 – – 3,78767.4%Elected on 1st count New SCBow Valley-Empress2,475 – 1,560 – – 4,03567.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Bruce2,157 1,210 756 – – 4,12367.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Camrose2,919 1,132 1,015 – – 5,06665.1%Elected on 1st count SC SC Cardston2,011 – 630 – – 2,641 56.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Clover Bar2,238 935 769 – – 3,94266.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC Cypress2,240 – 1,048 – – 3,28861.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC Didsbury2,870 – 1,253 – – 4,12362.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Drumheller3,458 – – – 308 3,76662.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Edson2,480 – 1,965 – – 4,44560.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Gleichen2,061 273 675 – – 3,00961.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Grande Prairie2,967 902 935 – – 4,80465.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Grouard2,234 951 2,358 – – 5,54365.5% 2,405 – 2,558 – – SC Lib Hand Hills2,806 – 1,145 – – 3,95169.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Lac La Biche1,832 – 1,792 – – 3,62468.5%Elected on 1st count SC SC Lac Ste. Anne1,639 1,520 1,069 469 – 4,69771.9% 2,034 1,878 – – – SC SC Lacombe2,446 975 757 – – 4,17870.3%Elected on 1st count SC SC Leduc1,207 1,331 – 2,051 – 4,58963.7% – 1,422 – 2,406 – SC I-SC Lethbridge4,975 – 1,901 – – 6,876 53.7%Elected on 1st count SC SC Little Bow2,668 411 1,001 – – 4,08071.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Macleod3,232 496 773 – – 4,50183.9%Elected on 1st count SC SC Medicine Hat4,724 – 1,601 – – 6,325 58.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Okotoks-High River3,077 – 1,291 – – 4,36864.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Olds3,064 – 1,611 – – 4,67566.6%Elected on 1st count SC SC Peace River3,352 1,177 1,214 – – 5,743 57.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Pembina2,818 941 1,127 – – 4,88669.5%Elected on 1st count SC SC Pincher Creek-Crowsnest3,207 – 1,008 – – 4,21562.4%Elected on 1st count SC SC Ponoka2,377 800 1,214 – – 4,39170.7%Elected on 1st count SC SC Red Deer4,907 1,496 – – – 6,403 58.8%Elected on 1st count SC SC Redwater1,677 1,002 1,268 – 296 4,24368.8% 1,833 – 1,644 – – SC SC Rocky Mountain House2,886 1,165 – – – 4,051 56.2%Elected on 1st count SC SC St. Albert2,218 1,292 1,496 – – 5,00670.6% 2,420 – 2,019 – – SC SC St. Paul2,581 – 2,235 – – 4,81671.1%Elected on 1st count SC SC Sedgewick2,714 634 813 – – 4,16168.7%Elected on 1st count SC SC Spirit River1,738 1,222 861 550 – 4,37166.3% 2,041 1,418 – – – SC SC Stettler2,275 752 1,225 442 – 4,69469.6% 2,397 784 1,339 – – SC SC Stony Plain1,991 1,218 1,062 – – 4,27168.7% 2,177 1,530 – – – SC SC Taber2,809 – 717 – – 3,526 58.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Vegreville1,981 1,434 1,182 – – 4,59775.4% 2,239 1,710 – – – SC SC Vermilion1,955 869 835 – 655 4,01466.3% 2,058 – 983 – 713 SC SC Wainwright2,578 – 1,105 – 705 4,38862.0%Elected on 1st count SC SC Warner1,904 – 633 – – 2,537 49.3%Elected on 1st count SC SC Wetaskiwin2,664 1,029 1,029 200 – 4,92266.7%Elected on 1st count SC SC Willingdon1,716 1,760 660 – – 4,13675.1% 1,812 2,026 – – – SC CCF
= Open seat = turnout is above provincial average = Candidate was in previous Legislature = Incumbent had switched allegiance = Previously incumbent in another riding = Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature = Incumbency arose from by-election gain = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada = Multiple candidates
Multi-member districts
District Seats won(in order declared)Calgary Edmonton
Social Credit CCF Liberal Conservative (in Edmonton); Progressive Conservative (in Calgary)
= Candidate was in previous Legislature = Candidate had previously been in the Legislature = First-time MLA
STV analysis Exhausted votes Thirteen districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates:
+ Exhausted votes (1952)DistrictCountsExhausted 1st preference Final Votes% of 1st prefCalgary41,673 40,019 1,654 Edmonton52,039 47,149 4,890 Grouard5,543 4,963 580 Lac Ste. Anne4,697 3,912 785 Leduc4,589 3,828 761 Redwater4,243 3,477 766 St. Albert5,006 4,439 567 Spirit River4,371 3,459 912 Stettler4,694 4,520 177 Stony Plain4,271 3,707 564 Vegreville4,597 3,949 648 Vermilion4,014 3,754 260 Willingdon4,136 3,838 298
Calgary All major parties other than the Progressive Conservatives fielded full slates.
PartyCandidatesMLAs elected 1952 1948 ± 1952 1948 ±6 5 1 4 2 25 – 5 1 – 16 5 1 1 1 6 5 1 – 1 1Independent Citizen's Association– 3 3 – 1 11 1 – – –1 – 1 – – –– 2 2 – – –– 1 1 – – –Total25 22 3 6 5 1
Edmonton All major parties ran full slates. There were also two Labour candidates
PartyCandidatesMLAs elected 1952 1948 ± 1952 1948 ±7 5 2 3 3 7 5 2 2 1 17 5 2 1 1 7 – 7 1 – 11 – 1 – – –Independent Citizen's Association– 1 1 – – –Total29 16 13 7 5 2
See also List of Alberta political parties
References