Alberta general election, 1944
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The Alberta general election of 1944 was the tenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
After the death of Social Credit Party founder and premier William Aberhart in 1943, Ernest C. Manning became leader. Manning steered the party down a more moderate path, largely dispensing with the party's social credit policies of monetary reform that it had been unable to implement.
Manning led Social Credit to a third term in government with a resounding victory in the 1944 election, winning over 50% of the popular vote. The Liberal and Conservative parties continued their strategy of running joint candidates as independents, but were even less successful that in the 1940 election: independents' share of the popular vote declined by twenty five percentage points. This brought the "Independents Movement" or "Unity Movement" to an end.
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation entered the election with only one seat in the legislature belonging to party leader Elmer Roper who had won a 1942 by-election. Despite winning almost a quarter of the popular vote the party won only two seats in the general election.
Servicemen and veterans from World War II who were in Alberta and voted in the election, got slightly different ballots that helped identify and track the "Service vote", Service men abroad voted in a sub-election a number of weeks after to select three non-partisan at large members.
Contents |
[edit] Results
| Party | Party Leader | # of candidates |
Seats | Popular Vote | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Elected | % Change | # | % | % Change | ||||
| Social Credit |
|
57 | 36 | 51 | +41.7% | 146,367 | 51.88% | +8.98% | |
| Independent | 36 | 19 | 3 | -84.2% | 47,239 | 16.75% | -25.72% | ||
| Cooperative Commonwealth |
|
57 | - | 2 | 70,307 | 24.92% | +13.81 | ||
| Veteran's & Active Force |
|
1 | * | 1 | * | 3,532 | 1.25% | * | |
| Labour Progressive 1 | 30 | - | - | - | 12,003 | 4.26% | +3.91% | ||
| Labour United | 1 | * | - | * | 1,788 | 0.63% | * | ||
| Single Tax | 1 | * | - | * | 480 | 0.17% | * | ||
| Farmer's Labour | 1 | * | - | * | 390 | 0.14% | * | ||
| Total | 184 | 57 | 57 | - | 282,106 | 100% |
|
||
| Source: Elections Alberta | |||||||||
Notes:
1 Compared to the Communist Party results from the previous election.
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
[edit] 1944/45 soldiers' vote
Three members of the armed forces fighting in World War II were elected after the 1944 election to represent Alberta troops fighting overseas. The election of soildiers' representatives had been decided prior to the 1944 general election, however the vote for soiliders' did not occur until January 1945.
The soldiers' Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) were non-partisan and sat on the opposition side. The number of seats increased to 60. One member represented each branch of the service: Army, Navy and Air Force. This was the second at-large soldiers' vote held in the province's history, the first being in 1917.
The voting age was for the vote nullified, and anyone in active service was allowed to vote.
| 10th Alberta Legislative Assembly Soldiers representatives | |||
| Branch | Member | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Air Force | Wing Commander Frederick C. Colborne | ||
| Navy | Chief Petty Officer Loftus Dudley Ward | ||
| Army | Captain James Harper Prowse | ||
Note:
- Vote counts, losing candidates and exact date are not available
- The Veterans and Active Force that ran in the main election was not affiliated with this sub-election.
[edit] Members elected
For complete electoral history, see individual districts
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: 1940 Alberta election |
Alberta elections | Followed by: 1948 Alberta election |
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