1972 Newfoundland general election

1972 Newfoundland general election

March 24, 1972
42 seats to the 36th General Assembly of Newfoundland 22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.1% ( 8.8% pp)
First party Second party   PC LIB Leader Frank Moores Edward Roberts Party Progressive Conservative Liberal Leader since 1972 1972 Leader's seat Humber West White Bay North Last election 21 seats, 51.34% 20 seats, 44.48% Seats won 33 9 Seat change 12 11 Popular vote 126,508 77,849 Percentage 60.22% 37.06% Swing 8.88pp 7.42pp
Premier before election Frank Moores Progressive Conservative Premier after election Frank Moores Progressive Conservative

The 1972 Newfoundland general election was held on 24 March 1972 to elect members of the 36th General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Progressive Conservative party. In the district of Labrador South, the election was a virtual tie between two candidates and had to be declared void. In a subsequent by-election, the seat was taken by a member of the Labrador Party.

Results

	Party	Leader	1971	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Progressive Conservative	Frank Moores	21	33	+57%	126,508	60.5%
	Liberal	Edward Roberts	20	9	-55%	77,849	37.1%
	New Democratic	John Connors	0	0	0%	410	0.2%
	Other		1	0	-100%	4,307	2.1%
Totals			42	42	-	210,078	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• § indicates that the incumbent was defeated for nomination.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	PC		Liberal
St. John's Centre 73.61% turnout		Anthony Murphy 3,580 76.46%		Denis Murphy 1,102 23.54%		Anthony Murphy
St. John's East 71.83% turnout		William Marshall 2,712 77.51%		Brendan Kelly 787 22.49%		William Marshall
St. John's East Extern 73.02% turnout		Tom Hickey 8,039 78.92%		Austin Ryan 2,147 21.08%		Tom Hickey
St. John's North 81.53% turnout		John Carter 9,512 69.29%		Roston Churchill 4,216 30.71%		John Carter
St. John's South 78.43% turnout		Robert Wells 5,997 77.64%		Rod Moores 1,727 22.36%		Hugh Shea§‡ (ran in Harbour Main)
St. John's West 75.59% turnout		John Crosbie 5,949 72.92%		Duncan Sharpe 2,209 27.08%		John Crosbie

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		Other
Bay de Verde 75.22% turnout		Brendan Howard 1,536 61.66%		Donald Burt 955 38.34%				Vacant
Bell Island 84.24% turnout		Bren Fitzpatrick 973 42.25%		Steve Neary 1,175 51.02%		Edward Russell (Independent) 155 6.73%		Steve Neary
Carbonear 84.85% turnout		Augustus Rowe 2,020 59.10%		Walter Milley 1,398 40.90%				Augustus Rowe
Harbour Grace 86.25% turnout		Haig Young 2,569 55.69%		Hubert Kitchen 2,005 43.46%		George Snow (Independent) 39 0.85%		Hubert Kitchen
Harbour Main		Gordon Dawe 5,181 40.09%		Richard Gosse 1,651 12.77%		Hugh Shea (Independent Liberal) 1,140 8.82%		Gordon Dawe
		William Doody 4,953 38.32%						William Doody
Port de Grave 82.17% turnout		George Wilson 2,270 53.56%		James Hussey 1,968 46.44%				James Hussey

Avalon Peninsula

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	PC		Liberal
Ferryland 82.66% turnout		Thomas Doyle 2,402 65.57%		Kevin O'Regan 1,261 34.43%		Tom Doyle
Placentia East 85.83% turnout		Fintan Aylward 2,688 54.99%		Michael Maher 2,200 45.01%		Joey Smallwood†
St. Mary's 88.82% turnout		Gerry Ottenheimer 1,705 72.28%		Dermott Lee 654 27.72%		Gerry Ottenheimer
Trinity South 78.43% turnout		James Reid 2,960 53.39%		Rupert Bartlett 2,584 46.61%		Rupert Bartlett

Eastern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		Other
Bonavista North 82.80% turnout		John Curran 2,848 45.98%		Paul Thoms 3,346 54.02%				Paul Thoms
Bonavista South 75.81% turnout		Jim Morgan 3,285 56.74%		Rossy Barbour 2,386 41.21%		Ben Elliott (Independent Liberal) 119 2.05%		Rossy Barbour
Fogo 73.51% turnout		Ernest Roebotham 1,727 38.79%		Earl Winsor 2,511 56.40%		Barton Manning (Independent) 214 4.81%		Earl Winsor
Trinity North 76.23% turnout		Charlie Brett 3,124 52.77%		Uriah Strickland 2,796 47.23%				Uriah Strickland

Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		NDP		Other
Gander 77.59% turnout		Harold Collins 4,674 65.62%		Eli Baker 2,272 31.90%		Earle Boone 177 2.48%				Harold Collins
Grand Falls 82.25% turnout		Aubrey Senior 4,640 57.18%		Wilburne England 3,268 40.28%		John Connors 206 2.54%				Aubrey Senior
Green Bay 84.62% turnout		Brian Peckford 2,560 51.35%		Harold Starkes 2,425 48.65%						Harold Starkes
Lewisporte 84.30% turnout		James Russell 3,022 57.82%		Clyde Mullett 2,128 40.71%				Walwin Blackmore (Independent) 77 1.47%		James Russell
Twillingate 80.58% turnout		John Loveridge 1,490 41.08%		Herbert Gillett 2,110 58.18%		Roderick Woolridge 27 0.74%				William Adams†
White Bay South 84.03% turnout		William Eaton 1,641 42.95%		Bill Rowe 2,180 57.05%						Bill Rowe

Southern Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		Other
Burgeo-La Poile 75.78% turnout		Allan Evans 3,062 57.89%		Walter Hodder 2,227 42.11%				Allan Evans
Burin 80.39% turnout		Alex Hickman 3,803 65.25%		Ronald Fagan 2,025 34.75%				Alex Hickman
Fortune Bay 82.06% turnout		H.R.V. Earle 1,563 55.74%		Leslie Thoms 1,226 43.72%		Eric Hiscock (Independent) 15 0.53%		Vacant
Hermitage 81.71% turnout		Roy Cheeseman 2,183 62.26%		Harold Piercey 1,323 37.74%				Harold Piercey
Placentia West 84.17% turnout		Leo Barry 1,858 50.59%		Patrick Canning 1,815 49.41%				Patrick Canning

Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	PC		Liberal
Humber East 75.50% turnout		Tom Farrell 5,290 69.72%		Gerald Matthews 2,297 30.28%		Tom Farrell
Humber West		Frank Moores Won by acclamation				Frank Moores
Port au Port 84.74% turnout		Frederick Stagg 4,107 65.78%		James Campbell 2,137 34.22%		Frederick Stagg
St. Barbe North 90.90% turnout		Wallace Maynard 839 37.56%		Frederick B. Rowe 1,395 62.44%		James Chalker†
St. Barbe South 90.47% turnout		Edward Maynard 2,107 58.40%		Trevor Bennett 1,501 41.60%		Edward Maynard
St. George's 82.80% turnout		Alexander Dunphy 2,464 65.46%		Ronald Callahan 1,300 34.54%		Alexander Dunphy
White Bay North 79.26% turnout		Stanley Cole 579 16.17%		Edward Roberts 3,002 83.83%		Edward Roberts

Labrador

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	PC		Liberal		Labrador
Labrador North 90.62% turnout		Lloyd Janes 1,102 29.98%		Melvin Woodward 1,396 37.98%		Herbert Brett 1,178 32.04%		Melvin Woodward
Labrador South 83.33% turnout				Joe Harvey 933 50.03%		Michael Martin 932 49.97%		Joe Harvey
Labrador West 92.99% turnout		Joseph Rousseau 3,494 60.84%		Tom Burgess 1,811 31.53%		Gerald Neary 438 7.63%		Tom Burgess

Further reading

• Riggs, Bert (1981). "General Election #36: March 24, 1972". Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, volume 1. St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. Retrieved April 2, 2025.