1937 Nova Scotia general election

The 1937 Nova Scotia general election was held on 20 June 1937 to elect members of the 41st House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Liberal Party.

1937 Nova Scotia general election

← 1933 June 20, 1937 1941 →
← outgoing members members →
30 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 16 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	79.67% 6.23pp
First party Second party   PC Leader Angus Lewis Macdonald Gordon Sidney Harrington Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since October 1, 1930 1930 Leader's seat Halifax South Cape Breton South (Lost re-election) Last election 22 8 Seats won 25 5 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 165,397 143,670 Percentage 52.69% 45.77% Swing 0.35pp 0.06pp
Premier before election Angus Lewis Macdonald Liberal Premier after election Angus Lewis Macdonald Liberal

Results

Results by party

↓

25	5
Liberal	Progressive Conservative

Official results ^[1]

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
				1933	Dissolution	Elected	Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Liberal	Angus Lewis Macdonald	30	22	21	25	+3	165,397	52.69%	+0.35%
	Progressive Conservative	Gordon Sidney Harrington	30	8	8	5	-3	143,670	45.77%	+0.06%
	Labour		1	0	0	0	0	3,396	1.08%	+0.30%
	Vacant				1
Total valid votes								312,463	99.55%	–
Blank and invalid ballots								1,421	0.45%	–
Total			61	30	30	30	–	313,884	100.00%	–
Registered voters / turnout								312,817	79.67%[2]	-6.23%

Popular vote Liberal   52.69% PC   45.77% Labour   1.08%

Seats summary Liberal   83.33% PC   16.67%

Retiring incumbents

Liberal

• Clarence W. Anderson, Guysborough
• George R. Deveau, Richmond
• Guy Murray Logan, Halifax Centre

Progressive Conservative

• Seth M. Bartling, Queens
• William A. Flemming, Colchester
• Weldon W. Patton, Cape Breton West

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Labour
Annapolis		John D. McKenzie 4,977 57.35%		James Eugene Morse 3,702 42.65%				John D. McKenzie
Digby		Joseph William Comeau 5,179 58.19%		Edward Brenett Pugh 3,721 41.81%				Joseph William Comeau
Hants		Alexander Stirling MacMillan 5,590 54.96%		Leonard W. Fraser 4,581 45.04%				Alexander Stirling MacMillan
Kings		John Alexander McDonald 7,470 32.34%		George Nowlan 5,790 25.07%				John Alexander McDonald

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Labour
Lunenburg		Frank R. Davis 8,073 28.28%		Reginald E. Hyson 6,268 21.95%				Frank R. Davis
		Gordon E. Romkey 7,796 27.31%		Vernon L. Pearson 6,414 22.47%				Gordon E. Romkey
Queens		J. Ross Byrne 2,715 48.09%		John J. Cameron 2,931 51.91%				Seth M. Bartling†
Shelburne		Henry R. L. Bill 3,215 58.41%		Norman Emmons Smith 2,289 41.59%				Henry R. L. Bill
Yarmouth		Lindsay C. Gardner 5,566 60.11%		Peter Lorimer Judge 3,694 39.89%				Lindsay C. Gardner

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Labour
Colchester		Harry B. Havey 5,791 23.45%		Frederick Murray Blois 6,698 27.13%				William A. Flemming†
		Edward G. McColough 5,614 22.74%		George Y. Thomas 6,587 26.68%				George Y. Thomas
Cumberland		John S. Smiley 8,047 22.58%		Archie B. Smith 9,272 26.02%				John S. Smiley
		Archibald J. Mason 8,024 22.52%		Percy Chapman Black 10,289 28.88%				Percy Chapman Black

Halifax/Dartmouth/Eastern Shore

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Labour
Halifax Centre		William Duff Forrest 5,186 54.61%		Arthur Wilfred Morton 4,310 45.39%				Guy Murray Logan†
Halifax East		Geoffrey W. Stevens 6,082 52.27%		Josiah Frederick Fraser 5,554 47.73%				Geoffrey W. Stevens
Halifax North		Harold Connolly 5,458 57.81%		Gerald Patrick Flavin 3,984 42.19%				Harold Connolly
Halifax South		Angus Lewis Macdonald 5,446 56.10%		Richard Donahoe 4,262 43.90%				Angus Lewis Macdonald
Halifax West		George E. Hagen 5,034 54.00%		Earle C. Phinney 4,288 46.00%				George E. Hagen

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Labour
Antigonish		John L. MacIsaac 3,160 61.11%		Robert H. Butts 2,011 38.89%				John L. MacIsaac
Guysborough		Havelock Torrey 4,368 57.81%		Howard Amos Rice 3,188 42.19%				Clarence W. Anderson†
Pictou		Newton G. Munro 9,637 25.96%		John A. MacGregor 8,890 23.95%				Vacant
		Josiah H. MacQuarrie 10,149 27.34%		Rod H. MacLeod 8,441 22.74%				Josiah H. MacQuarrie

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	Liberal		PC		Labour
Cape Breton Centre		Michael Dwyer 4,148 59.56%		Robert Simpson MacLellan 2,816 40.44%				Michael Dwyer
Cape Breton East		Lauchlin Daniel Currie 4,172 40.12%		Roderick Kerr 2,832 27.23%		William T. Mercer 3,396 32.65%		Lauchlin Daniel Currie
Cape Breton North		George Belcher Murray 4,679 51.73%		Joseph Macdonald 4,366 48.27%				Joseph Macdonald
Cape Breton South		George M. Morrison 5,879 52.00%		Gordon Sidney Harrington 5,427 48.00%				Gordon Sidney Harrington
Cape Breton West		Malcolm A. Patterson 2,883 50.80%		Evan MacK. Forbes 2,792 49.20%				Weldon W. Patton†
Inverness		Moses Elijah McGarry 5,836 25.27%		Alexander Daniel McInnis 4,002 17.33%				Moses Elijah McGarry
Richmond		Donald David Boyd 2,888 53.38%		Benjamin Amedeé LeBlanc 2,522 46.62%				George R. Deveau†
Victoria		John Malcolm Campbell 2,335 57.17%		Frederick Walker Baldwin 1,749 42.83%				Frederick Walker Baldwin

References

1. "Election Returns 1937" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
2. While 313,884 votes were cast, only 249,215 electors voted as electors in several districts voted for two candidates.

Further reading

• The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1937 and 1938. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1940.