1957 British Honduras general election explained

Country:British Honduras
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Turnout:52.74%
Previous Election:1954 British Honduras general election
Previous Year:1954
Next Election:1961 British Honduras general election
Next Year:1961
Seats For Election:All 9 seats in the Legislative Assembly
Election Date:20 March 1957
Leader1:George Cadle Price
Leader Since1:1956
Party1:People's United Party
Leaders Seat1:Belize North
Last Election1:8 seats
Seats1:9
Seat Change1: 1
Popular Vote1:6,876
Percentage1:61.32%
Swing1: 3.72
Majority party leader
Before Election:George Cadle Price
After Election:George Cadle Price
Before Party:People's United Party
After Party:People's United Party

General elections were held in British Honduras on 20 March 1957. The ruling People's United Party won all nine seats contested.[1] 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.

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

Results

By division

DivisionElectorateTurnout%Political partyCandidateVotes%
Belize North3,4901,90154.5People's United PartyGeorge Cadle Price70.2
bgcolor=aquaNational PartyJaime Staines28.4
Belize Rural2,3831,01342.5People's United PartyLouis Sylvestre68.2
bgcolor=Honduran Independence PartyHerman Jex19.2
National PartyLindsay Burns10.8
Belize South2,7671,64859.6People's United PartyDenbigh Jeffery38.7
bgcolor=Honduran Independence PartyPhilip Goldson38.6
National PartyHerbert Fuller21.5
Belize West3,6651,97753.9People's United PartyAlbert Cattouse57.4
bgcolor=Honduran Independence PartyLeigh Richardson26.7
National PartyLionel Francis14.3
Cayo2,0191,04451.7People's United PartyEnrique De Paz50.1
bgcolor=Honduran Independence PartyEduardo Espat21.6
bgcolor=aquaNational PartyHamid Musa6.7
Corozal1,5781,00163.4People's United PartySantiago Ricalde82.3
bgcolor=Honduran Independence PartyJose Leon Chin15.3
Orange Walk1,43680055.7People's United PartyVictor Orellana64.8
National PartyWilliam George23.6
bgcolor=Honduran Independence PartyGeorge Flowers7.9
Stann Creek3,3491,61148.1People's United PartyDavid McKoy57.0
bgcolor=IndependentHarry Stanely14.7
bgcolor=IndependentLem Benguche13.5
bgcolor=IndependentMax Arzu13.1
Toledo1,37163946.6People's United PartyFaustino Zuniga46.2
National PartyBernard Avilez26.0
bgcolor=IndependentCharles Westby25.4

Notes and References

  1. http://www.elections.gov.bz/modules/wfdownloads/visit.php?cid=14&lid=742 General Elections 1957