British Honduras general election, 1957

British Honduras general election, 1957
British Honduras
20 March 1957

All 9 seats in the British Honduras Legislative Assembly
  First party Second party Third party
 
HIP
NP
Leader George Cadle Price Leigh Richardson W. H. Courtenay
Party PUP HIP NP
Alliance PUP-GWU
Leader since 1956 1956 1951
Leader's seat Belize North Belize West (lost seat)[1] (not a candidate)
Last election 8 seats (new party) 1 seat
Seats won 9 0 0
Seat change Increase 1 Steady Decrease 1
Popular vote 6,876 2,057 1,449
Percentage 61.32% 18.34% 12.92%
Swing Decrease 3.72 Increase 18.34 Decrease 10.06

Majority party leader before election

George Cadle Price
PUP

Elected Majority party leader

George Cadle Price
PUP

This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Belize

A legislative election was held in British Honduras on 20 March 1957.

The ruling People's United Party won all nine seats contested.[2] This was the first of two occasions they would sweep the House. It was the PUP's first election under the leadership of George Cadle Price. Price would lead the party until 1996.

The Honduran Independence Party (HIP), a forerunner of the modern United Democratic Party, was founded the previous year by an anti-Price faction within the PUP led by former PUP leader Leigh Richardson. The party fielded five out of a possible nine candidates, but failed to win any seats.[2]

The election was the last for the pro-colonial National Party. Charles Westby, the NP's only successful candidate in the 1954 election, ran as an independent.[2] The HIP and NP merged in 1958 to form the National Independence Party.

 Summary of the 1957 British Honduras Legislative Assembly election results
Parties Votes % Seats
People's United Party 6,876 61.32 9
Honduran Independence Party 2,057 18.34 -
National Party 1,449 12.92 -
Independents 832 7.42 -
Total valid votes 11,214 100.00 9
Invalid votes 420
Total votes cast (turnout: 52.7%) 11,634
Registered voters 22,058

References

  1. Richardson was elected to the seat in 1954 as a PUP member.
  2. 1 2 3 General Elections 1957, Belize Elections and Boundaries Commission. (accessed 19 November 2014)
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