General elections were held in Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate in May 1957. A total of 39 seats were up for election, whilst another 12 paramount chiefs were indirectly elected.
The Sierra Leone People's Party led by Milton Margai won a majority of the elected seats,[1] and gained the support of all 12 chiefs and eight of the ten independents.[2] Margai led the country to independence in 1961.
| Electoral area | SLPP | UPP | NCSL | LP | SLIM | Independents | Total | Registered voters | Turnout | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | Seats | ||||
| Colony | 17,117 | 9 | 10,001 | 3 | 2,984 | 0 | 1,128 | 0 | 1,126 | 0 | 3,481 | 2 | 35,837 | 14 | 53,517 | ||||||||
| Protectorate (North) | 17,438 | 6 | 8,942 | 2 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 11,938 | 2 | 38,318 | 10 | 160,129 | |||||
| Protectorate (South East) | 17,749 | 2 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 37,534 | 4 | 55,283 | 6 | 128,014 | ||||
| Protectorate (South West) | 23,271 | 8 | 1,992 | 0 | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | − | 10,778 | 1 | 36,041 | 9 | 153,227 | |||||
| Total | 75,575 | 45.7 | 25 | 20,935 | 12.6 | 5 | 2,984 | 1.8 | 0 | 1,128 | 0.7 | 0 | 1,126 | 0.7 | 0 | 62,086 | 37.5 | 10 | 165,479 | 39 | 494,917 | 33.4 | |
| align=left colspan=23 | Source: Sternberger et al.[3] | ||||||||||||||||||||||