1949 Newfoundland general election

1949 Newfoundland general election

May 27, 1949
28 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly 15 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	95.6%
First party Second party   PC Leader Joey Smallwood Harry Mews Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader's seat Bonavista North Ran in St. John's West (lost) Seats won 22 5 Popular vote 110,459 54,728 Percentage 65.58% 32.49%
Premier before election Office established Premier after election Joey Smallwood Liberal

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	Leader	Candidates	Seats won	Popular vote	(%)
	Liberal	Joey Smallwood	28	24	110,459	65.58%
	Progressive Conservative	Harry Mews	27	4	54,728	32.49%
	Other		3	1	2,980	1.77%
Total valid votes					168,167	99.84%
	Blank or invalid ballots				268	0.16%
Totals			58	28	168,435	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
St. John's East		Geoffrey Carnell 6,417 24.51%		John G. Higgins 6,878 26.27%		New districts
		James Fagan 6,276 23.97%		Frank Fogwill 6,611 25.25%
St. John's West		Oliver Vardy 8,411 26.55%		Harry Mews 7,526 23.76%
		James Spratt 8,363 26.40%		Michael Harrington 7,381 23.30%

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Carbonear-Bay de Verde		Herbert Pottle 3,770 69.85%		Clayton Puddester 1,627 30.15%		New districts
Harbour Grace		James Chalker 2,066 62.55%		Richard Parsons 1,237 37.45%
Harbour Main-Bell Island		Addison Bown 2,927 21.21%		David Jackman 4,259 30.86%
		Myles Murray 2,807 20.34%		Ronald Fahey 3,808 27.59%
Port de Grave		George Makinson 2,243 64.73%		W.R. Dawe 1,222 35.27%

Avalon and Burin Peninsulas

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Burin		Phillip Forsey 3,947 90.47%		Grace Sparkes 416 9.53%				New districts
Ferryland		Augustus Greene 456 13.82%				Peter Cashin (Independent) 2,506 75.94%
						John O'Brien (Independent) 338 10.24%
Placentia-St. Mary's		Michael Sinnott 2,022 48.28%		Leonard Miller 2,166 51.72%
Placentia West		Patrick Canning 3,100 78.28%		Leo Murphy 860 21.72%
Trinity South		Maxwell Button 3,070 72.71%		Isaac Mercer 1,152 27.29%

Eastern and Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Bonavista North		Joey Smallwood 4,215 86.87%		James Way 637 13.13%		New districts
Bonavista South		Ted Russell 3,643 68.63%		Walter Young 1,583 31.37%
Fogo		Gordon Janes 3,121 83.83%		Harold Earle 602 16.17%
Grand Falls		Edward Spencer 7,014 81.56%		Lewis Cooper 1,586 18.44%
Green Bay		Baxter Morgan 2,901 87.12%		Roy Manuel 429 12.88%
Trinity North		Samuel Hefferton 3,727 78.40%		James Mifflin 1,027 21.60%
Twillingate		Leslie Curtis 3,100 91.36%		Cyril Parkins 293 8.64%

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Other
Burgeo-La Poile		Herman Quinton 3,225 92.65%		Edgar Skinner 256 7.35%				New districts
Fortune and Hermitage		John R. Courage 4,032 92.54%		Douglas Pinsent 325 7.46%
Humber		Charles Ballam 7,174 83.25%		Pierce Fudge 1,307 15.17%		Louis Bonnell (Independent) 136 1.58%
St. Barbe		Reginald Sparkes 2,588 93.16%		George Whiteley 190 6.84%
St. George's-Port au Port		William Keough 4,076 81.50%		John Dawson 925 18.50%
White Bay		Sam Drover 4,023 90.61%		Frederick Wells 417 9.39%

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	Liberal		PC
Labrador		Harold Horwood 1,268 90.51%		S.D. Grant 133 9.49%		New district

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #29: May 27, 1949". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved April 13, 2025.