Electoral history of Louis St. Laurent

This article is the electoral history of Louis St. Laurent, the twelfth prime minister of Canada (1948–1957).

A Liberal, St. Laurent served one term as prime minister (1948–1957), succeeding William Lyon Mackenzie King. He won two general elections (1948, 1953) and lost one (1957). John Diefenbaker succeeded him as prime minister, while Lester Pearson became the leader of the Liberal Party.

He stood for election to the House of Commons of Canada five times, all successfully.

Summary

St. Laurent ranks ninth out of twenty-three prime ministers for time in office, serving one term of eight years and 218 days.^[1]

St. Laurent was the third of eight prime ministers from Quebec, the others being Sir John Abbott, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Justin Trudeau. He was also the second of five francophone prime ministers, the others being Laurier, Pierre Trudeau, Chrétien, and Justin Trudeau.

A late-comer to politics, St. Laurent was a well-respected lawyer when Prime Minister Mackenzie King recruited him to the federal government, to replace Ernest Lapointe, King's long-time Quebec lieutenant, who had died suddenly.^[2] St. Laurent served in King's government as Minister of Justice and Minister of External Affairs, as well as King's political Quebec lieutenant.^[3] When King retired after his lengthy time in office, he supported St. Laurent for the leadership of the Liberal Party. St. Laurent won on the first ballot and automatically became prime minister.

St. Laurent led the Liberal Party in two general elections in 1949 and 1953, winning majority governments each time. However, in his third general election, the major issue was the building of a trans-Canada gas pipeline, with financing from the federal government. The financing proposal triggered a controversial debate in the House of Commons, which St. Laurent's government ended by the use of closure to push the measure through the Commons. St. Laurent and the Liberals were defeated in the general election of 1957, with John Diefenbaker forming a minority government. St. Laurent stayed on as Liberal leader and Leader of the Opposition for half a year after the election. He resigned as Liberal leader early in 1958 and retired from politics.^[3] He was succeeded as Liberal leader by Lester B. Pearson.

St. Laurent stood for election to the Canadian House of Commons five times, all for the riding of Quebec East. He was elected each time (1942 (by-election), 1945, 1949, 1953 and 1957). He served in the Commons for a total of 16 years, 1 month, 20 days.^[3]

Federal general elections, 1949 to 1957

St. Laurent led the Liberal Party in three general elections, winning two majority governments and losing once.

Federal election, 1949

St. Laurent won a decisive victory in the 1949 election. George Drew, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, continued as Leader of the Opposition.

Canadian Federal Election, 1949 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent¹	191	49.2%
	Progressive Conservative	George A. Drew²	41	29.7%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	M. J. Coldwell	13	13.4%
	Social Credit	Solon Earl Low	10	2.3%
	Independent	–	4	2.1%
	Independent Liberal	–	1	0.5%
	Liberal-Labour	–	1	0.2%
	Liberal–Progressive	–	1	0.2%
Total			262	97.6%³
Sources: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867

¹ Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Federal election, 1953

St. Laurent won a second victory in the 1953 election, though with a reduced majority. George Drew, the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, continued as Leader of the Opposition.

Canadian Federal Election, 1953 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent¹	169	48.4%
	Progressive Conservative	George A. Drew²	51	31.0%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	M. J. Coldwell	23	11.3%
	Social Credit	Solon Earl Low	15	5.4%
	Independent	–	3	1.0%
	Independent Liberal	–	2	1.2%
	Liberal–Progressive	–	1	1.1%
	Liberal-Labour	–	1	0.2%
Total			265	99.6%³
Sources: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867

¹ Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Federal election, 1957

St. Laurent went to the polls a third time in 1957, but the election resulted in a hung parliament, with no party having a majority. Although the Liberals came in first in the popular vote, they came in second in seats in the House of Commons, behind John Diefenbaker and the Progressive Conservatives. St. Laurent resigned and Diefenbaker formed a minority government. St. Laurent became Leader of the Opposition, but resigned as Liberal leader in early 1958 and retired from politics.

Canadian Federal Election, 1957 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote
	Progressive Conservative	John Diefenbaker¹	112	38.5%
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent²	105	40.5%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	M. J. Coldwell	25	10.6%
	Social Credit	Solon Earl Low	19	6.5%
	Others	–	4	1.0%
	Spoiled ballots	–	–	1.1%
Total			265	98.2%³
Sources: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
² Prime Minister when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Federal constituency elections, 1942 to 1957

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on 9 February 1942 On Lapointe's death, 26 November 1941
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent	16,708
	Canadian Party	Paul Bouchard	12,768

v t e 1945 Canadian federal election: Quebec East
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent	17,965
	Independent	Noël Dorion	7,197
	Social Credit	Gérard Mercier	2,816
	Bloc populaire	Joseph-Norbert-Jules Thérien	1,463
	Independent	Paul-Émile Latouche	280
	Co-operative Commonwealth	François-Xavier Perron	231
	Labor–Progressive	Joseph-Gaudias De Croiselles	109

v t e 1949 Canadian federal election: Quebec East
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent	25,832
	Progressive Conservative	Mark Robert Drouin	7,876
	Union des électeurs	Alphonse Tousignant	1,395

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v t e 1953 Canadian federal election: Quebec East
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent	25,945
	Progressive Conservative	Raymond Maher	5,841
	Labor–Progressive	Gérard Fortin	438
	Locataire	Louis Seigneur	417
	Anti-Communist	Patrick Walsh	333

v t e 1957 Canadian federal election: Quebec East
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Louis St. Laurent	27,364
	Progressive Conservative	Louis Gagnon	9,900
	Social Credit	Roland Roy	739

Liberal Party leadership convention, 1948

St. Laurent entered the convention as the favourite, with King's support in opposition to James Gardiner, the long-time Minister of Agriculture from Saskatchewan. St. Laurent won on the first ballot, after most other nominees dropped out as a result of King's manoeuvering behind the scenes.

Liberal Leadership Convention, August 7, 1948
Voting results by ballot
Candidate		First Ballot
Candidate		Votes cast	%
	Louis St. Laurent	848	69.1%
	James Garfield Gardiner	323	26.3%
	Charles Gavan Power	56	4.6%
	Douglas Abbott*	–	–
	Lionel Chevrier*	–	–
	Brooke Claxton*	–	–
	Stuart Garson*	–	–
	C.D. Howe*	–	–
	Paul Martin Sr.*	–	–
Total		1,227	100.0%
Source: CPAC – 1948 Liberal Convention