Alberta general election, 1948

Alberta general election, 1948

August 17, 1948 (1948-08-17)

57 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 29 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Ernest Manning Elmer E. Roper James H. Prowse Party Social Credit Co-operative Commonwealth Liberal Leader since May 31, 1943 1942 June 26, 1947 Leader's seat Edmonton Edmonton Edmonton Last election 51 seats, 50.5% 2 seats, 24.2% did not run Seats before 50 2 1 Seats won 51 2 2 Seat change 1 ±0 1 Popular vote 164,003 56,387 52,655 Percentage 55.6% 19.1% 17.9% Swing 5.1% 5.1% —

Premier before election Ernest Manning Social Credit Premier-designate Ernest Manning Social Credit

The Alberta general election of 1948 was the eleventh general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on August 17, 1948 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Ernest C. Manning led the Social Credit to a fourth term in government, increasing its share of the popular vote further above the 50% mark it had set in the 1944 election. It won the same number of seats — 51 of the 57 seats in the legislature — that it had won in the previous election.

The remaining seats were won by the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the Liberal Party and independents.

Along with this election, voters got to also vote in a province wide plebiscite. The ballot asked voters about utility regulation.

Results

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Electrification plebiscite

The electrification plebiscite was possibly the third plebiscite conducted province-wide in Alberta's history. The ballot was not a traditional yes/no question, but presented two options on electricity regulation, asking if the province should create a Crown corporation to manage electricity, or leave the electricity industry in the hands of the companies currently in the business (a mixture of municipal operations and private companies).

The result shows how evenly divided the province was on the issue, with a plurality of only 151 votes in favour of leaving the old system in place. In fact, the majority of voters in Edmonton and in the rural areas were in favour of provincial control but an even larger majority in Calgary voted in favour of the old system.

For a breakdown of results, please see individual districts.

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

See also

• 1957 Liquor Plebiscite
• 1967 Daylight Saving Plebiscite
• 1971 Daylight Saving Plebiscite
• List of Alberta political parties

Elections and referendums in Alberta
General elections	1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004 2008 2012 2015 next
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012
Municipal elections	1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013
Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971
See also: List of Alberta by-elections