1957 British Guiana general election

General elections were held in British Guiana on 12 August 1957.[1] The result was a victory for the faction of the People's Progressive Party led by Cheddi Jagan, who remained Prime Minister.[2]

1957 British Guiana general election

12 August 1957

14 seats in the Legislative Council
8 seats needed for a majority
Registered212,518
Turnout118,564 (55.79%)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Cheddi Jagan Forbes Burnham
Party PPP-Jaganite PPP-Burnhamite
Leader since 1 January 1950 13 February 1955
Leader's seat Eastern Berbice Georgetown Central
Seats won
9 / 14
3 / 14
Popular vote 55,552 29,802
Percentage 47.50% 25.48%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Lionel Luckhoo John Carter
Party NLF UDP
Leader since 1956 1952
Leader's seat Georgetown North
(lost)
Georgetown South
(lost)
Seats won
1 / 14
1 / 14
Popular vote 13,465 9,564
Percentage 11.51% 8.18%

Premier before election

None

Elected Premier

Cheddi Jagan
PPP

Campaign

A total of 55 candidates contested the elections, including six independents. The National Labour Front was the only party to run a candidate in every Legislative Council seat, with the two factions of the PPP both contesting 13 seats. The United Democratic Party (UDP) contested eight seats and the Guiana National Party one.[3]

Results

Party Votes % Seats +/–
People's Progressive Party (Jaganite)55,55247.509–6
People's Progressive Party (Burnhamite)29,80225.483
National Labour Front13,46511.511New
United Democratic Party9,5648,181New
Guiana National Party1990.170
Independents8,3577.150–4
Invalid/blank votes1,625
Total118,56410014–10
Registered voters/turnout212,51855.79
Source: GECOM

Elected members

ConstituencyMemberParty
Berbice RiverAjodha SinghPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Central DemeraraBalram Singh RaiPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Demerara-EssequiboRam KarranPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Demerara RiverFred BowmanPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Eastern BerbiceCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Eastern DemeraraEdward Balkaran BeharryPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Essequibo RiverBrindley BennPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Georgetown CentralForbes BurnhamPeople's Progressive Party (Burnham)
Georgetown NorthAndrew Leonard JacksonPeople's Progressive Party (Burnham)
Georgetown SouthJainarine SinghPeople's Progressive Party (Burnham)
New AmsterdamRudy KendallUnited Democratic Party
North Western DistrictStephen CampbellNational Labour Front
Western BerbiceSheik Mohamed SaffeePeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Western EssequiboJanet JaganPeople's Progressive Party (Jagan)
Source: Parliament of Guyana

Aftermath

After the elections, the Burnhamite faction of the PPP merged with the UDP to form the People's National Congress.[1]

References

  1. Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p354 ISBN 978-0-19-928357-6
  2. "The British Declassified Files on British Guiana - 1958-1964".
  3. 1957 Elections Archived 2015-06-22 at the Wayback Machine GECOM
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