The 1955 Ontario general election was held on June 9, 1955, to elect the 98 members of the 25th Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. The

Ontario Progressive Conservative Party The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterrupted governance from 1 ...

, led by

Leslie Frost Leslie Miscampbell Frost (September 20, 1895 – May 4, 1973) was a politician in Ontario, Canada, who served as the province's 16th premier from May 4, 1949, to November 8, 1961. Due to his lengthy tenure, he gained the nickname "Old Man O ...

, won a fifth consecutive term in office, increasing its caucus in the legislature from 79 in the previous election to 83. The

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; , PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by Bonnie Crombie since December 2023. The party espouses the principles of liberalism, with their rival the Progressive Co ...

, again led by Farquhar Oliver, won three additional seats in the enlarged legislature, increasing its caucus from 8 to 11, and continuing in the role of

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

. Liberal-Labour MPP Albert Wren was re-elected and continued to sit with the Liberal

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

. The

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

(CCF), led by Donald C. MacDonald, won one additional seat, for a total of three. The

Labor-Progressive Party The Labor-Progressive Party (LPP; ) was the legal Front organization, front of the Communist Party of Canada and its provincial wings from 1943 to 1959. It was established amid World War II after a number of prominent Communist Party members w ...

(which was the Communist Party) lost its last remaining seat with the defeat of J.B. Salsberg. James Shannon Dempsey ( Renfrew South) had his endorsement as a PC candidate withdrawn because of controversy over a political gift, but he was reelected as an Independent PC.

Pre-election developments

Franchise reform

The ''Election Act, 1951'' was significantly amended in 1954, providing for the following changes to the right to vote in Ontario: :* removal of the disqualification from voting for having been paid to act on behalf of a candidate :* removal of the disqualification from voting for being an inmate maintained in a home for the aged or a house of industry :* extension of the franchise to all Indians living in the province, whether enfranchised or not under the ''

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

'' :* removal from the voters' list for temporary absence because of being a student, a mariner, or a member of the Canadian, Commonwealth or allied forces

Expansion of Legislative Assembly

For the first time since the 1934 election, the number of seats in the Legislature was adjusted, rising from 90 to 98. The following changes were made: :* Addington became Frontenac—Addington :*

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

was divided into

London North London North was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was first created for the 1926 provincial election when the London riding was divided in two sections, and then eliminated prior to the 1934 provincial election when the ci ...

and

London South London South was an electoral riding in Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward ...

:* Muskoka—Ontario was reduced to Muskoka, ceding its part of Ontario County to

:* Nickel Belt was separated from Sudbury :*

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

was separated from

:* Ottawa West was carved out from Carleton :* Wellington North became Wellington—Dufferin :* Part of Wentworth became Wentworth East :* York Centre was carved out from

York North York North was a federal riding in Ontario, Canada, that was in the House of Commons of Canada from Confederation in 1867 until 2004. The federal riding was eliminated in 2003 when it was redistributed between two new ridings of Newmarket� ...

:* York—Humber was separated from York West :* York—Scarborough was ceded from York East

Campaign

Results

, - ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Political party ! rowspan=2 , Party leader ! colspan=5 , MPPs ! colspan=3 , Votes , - ! Candidates !

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

! Dissol. !1955 !± !# !% ! ± (pp) , style="text-align:left;",

, 97 , 79 , , 83 , 4 , 846,592 , 48.06% , 0.40 , style="text-align:left;", Farquhar Oliver , 94 , 7 , , 10 , 3 , 577,774 , 32.80% , 1.74 , style="text-align:left;", Donald C. MacDonald , 81 , 2 , , 3 , 1 , 291,410 , 16.54% , 2.56 , style="text-align:left;", Stewart Smith , 31 , 1 , , – , 1 , 20,875 , 1.19% , 0.52 , style="text-align:left;", , 2 , 1 , , 1 , , 7,305 , 0.41% , 0.04 , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , 1 , 1 , 7,033 , 0.40% , 0.34 , style="text-align:left;", , 5 , – , – , – , , 9,169 , 0.52% , 0.41 , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , – , , 641 , 0.04% , , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , – , , 602 , 0.03% , , style="text-align:left;", , 1 , – , – , – , , 124 , 0.01% , , style="text-align:left;", , – , – , – , – , , colspan="3", ''Did not campaign'' , colspan="3", , , colspan="5", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;", Total , 314 , 90 , 90 , 98 , , 1,761,525 , 100.00% , , - , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Blank and invalid ballots , align="right", 22,622 , style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2", , -style="background:#E9E9E9;" , colspan="8" style="text-align:left;", Registered voters / turnout , 2,905,760 , 61.40% , 4.17

Synopsis of results

: = open seat : = turnout is above provincial average : = winning candidate was in previous Legislature : = previously incumbent in another riding : = incumbency arose from byelection gain : = incumbent had switched allegiance : = other incumbents renominated : = unendorsed PC candidate : = Liberal-Labour candidate

Analysis

Reorganization of ridings

The reorganized ridings returned the following MLAs:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario General Election, 1955 1955 elections in Canada 1955 1955 in Ontario June 1955 in Canada