1932 Newfoundland general election

The 1932 Newfoundland general election was held on 11 June 1932 to elect members of the 28th General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was the final legislative general election held in the Dominion of Newfoundland.

1932 Newfoundland general election

← 1928 June 11, 1932 1949 (Canada) →
← outgoing members members →
27 seats of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly 14 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Frederick C. Alderdice Richard Squires Party United Newfoundland Liberal Leader since 1932 1928 Leader's seat St. John's West[a] Humber Ran in Trinity South (lost) Last election 12[b] 28[c] Seats won 24 2 Seat change 12 26 Popular vote 82,037 32,726 Percentage 70.85% 28.26% Swing 28.00% 26.72%
Prime Minister before election Richard Squires Liberal Prime Minister after election Frederick C. Alderdice United Newfoundland

As a result of a riot which occurred in 1932 due to Newfoundland's deteriorating economic situation, Prime Minister Sir Richard Squires dissolved the House of Assembly and called an election. His Liberals were reduced to two seats while Frederick C. Alderdice's United Newfoundland Party won 24 seats and was elected to government. The size of the House was reduced from 40 to 27 as an economy measure.

Alderdice was not able to rescue the public finances. By this time Newfoundlanders despaired of the ability of their politicians to solve the problems. The British government commissioned a report from William Warrender Mackenzie, 1st Baron Amulree which was scathing about the political culture of Newfoundland.^[1]

The price of British government financial aid was the abandonment of responsible and representative government. The legislature was dissolved. The Commission of Government came into operation on 16 February 1934 ending more than a century of legislative democracy in Newfoundland.

Results

	Party	Leader	1928	Candidates	Seats won	Change in seats	% of seats (% change)	Popular vote	% of vote (% change)
	United Newfoundland	Frederick C. Alderdice	12[b]	26	24	12	88.89% (58.89%)	82,037	70.85% ( 28.00%)
	Liberal	Richard Squires	28[c]	26	2	26	7.41% (62.59%)	32,726	28.26% (26.72%)
	Other		0	3	1	1	3.70% (3.70%)	1,034	0.90% (1.27%)
Totals			40	55	27	13	100%	115,797	100%

Results by district

• Names in boldface type represent party leaders.
• † indicates that the incumbent did not run again.
• ‡ indicates that the incumbent ran in a different district.

St. John's

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	United (historical)		Liberal (historical)		Other
St. John's East		Gerald Byrne 6,987 41.83%		Leo Murphy 1,390 8.32%				Frederick C. Alderdice‡ St. John's City East (ran in St. John's West)
								Gerald Byrne St. John's City East
		Edward Emerson 6,969 41.73%		Thomas J. Mahoney 1,356 8.12%			Merged district
								John Tobin† St. John's East Extern
St. John's West		Frederick C. Alderdice 7,554 36.81%		Kenneth Ruby 2,884 14.05%		George Ayre (Independent) 214 1.04%		Alexander Campbell‡ St. John's City West (ran in St. George's-Port au Port)
								Joseph Fitzgibbon‡ St. John's City West (ran in Placentia and St. Mary's)
		Patrick Halley 7,320 35.67%		James Power 2,548 12.42%			Merged district
								Frank Bennett† St. John's West Extern

Conception Bay

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	United (historical)		Liberal (historical)
Carbonear-Bay de Verde		John Puddester 3,325 62.97%		Richard Cramm 1,955 37.03%		James Moore† Carbonear
					Merged district
						John Puddester Bay de Verde
Harbour Grace		Harry Winter 2,335 79.02%		Frank Archibald 620 20.98%		Frank Archibald
Harbour Main-Bell Island		Charles Furey 3,480 32.65%		Albert Walsh 1,938 18.18%		Philip Lewis‡ Harbour Main (ran in Placentia and St. Mary's)
						Albert Walsh Harbour Main
		William Browne 3,370 31.61%		Joseph Greene 1,872 17.56%	Merged district
						Joseph Greene Bell Island
Port de Grave		James Ayre 2,193 67.13%		Robert Smith 1,074 32.87%		John Parsons† Bay Roberts
					Merged district
						Robert Smith Port de Grave

Avalon and Burin Peninsulas

Electoral district	Candidates				Incumbent
	United (historical)		Liberal (historical)
Burin		Samuel Foote 2,393 63.37%		H. B. C. Lake 1,383 36.63%		James Winter† Burin East
					Merged district
						H. B. C. Lake Burin West
Ferryland		Michael Shea 2,412 85.93%		M. L. Whelan 395 14.07%		Peter Cashin†
Placentia and St. Mary's		Philip Lewis 2,492 84.08%		Joseph Fitzgibbon 472 15.92%		Edward Emerson‡ Placentia East (ran in St. John's East)
					Merged district
						James Bindon† St. Mary's
Placentia West		William Walsh 2,298 78.94%		J. J. St. John 613 21.06%		Leo Murphy‡ (ran in St. John's East)
Trinity South		Harold Mitchell 2,365 58.38%		Richard Squires 1,686 41.62%		Edwin Godden‡ (ran in Fogo)

Eastern and Central Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	United (historical)		Liberal (historical)		Other
Bonavista North		William C. Winsor 2,856 73.68%		Joseph Davis 1,020 26.32%				J. H. Scammell† Bonavista Centre
							Merged district
								Nathan Winsor† Bonavista North
Bonavista South		Herman Quinton 3,528 81.29%		Joey Smallwood 812 18.71%				William Coaker† Bonavista East
							Merged district
								Herman Quinton Bonavista South
Fogo		Harold Earle 2,397 76.56%		Edwin Godden 734 23.44%				Richard Hibbs†
Grand Falls		Kenneth Brown 2,799 66.34%		William Earle 1,420 33.66%				William Earle
							Merged district
								Helena Squires‡ Lewisporte (ran in Twillingate)
Green Bay		Frederick Wells 1,077 45.87%		Roland Starkes 1,271 54.13%				Roland Starkes
Trinity North		John Stone 2,888 65.13%		Bert King 726 16.37%		Reuben Vardy (Independent) 820 18.49%		F. Gordon Bradley‡ Trinity Centre (ran in Humber)
							Merged district
								William Halfyard† Trinity North
Twillingate		Norman Gray 1,479 55.08%		Helena Squires 1,206 44.92%				Kenneth Brown‡ (ran in Grand Falls)

Southern and Western Newfoundland

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
	United (historical)		Liberal (historical)		Other
Burgeo and La Poile		James Winter 1,882 76.29%		Philip Butler 585 23.71%				Arthur Barnes† Burgeo
Fortune Bay and Hermitage						Harris Mosdell (Independent) Won by acclamation		Harris Mosdell Fortune Bay
							Merged district
								Philip Fudge† Hermitage
Humber		S. D. Cook 2,224 45.99%		F. Gordon Bradley 2,612 54.01%				Richard Squires‡ (ran in Trinity South)
St. Barbe		George Whitely 1,254 68.67%		E. S. Spencer 572 31.33%				Walter Skanes†
St. George's-Port au Port		William Abbott 2,587 77.11%		Alexander Campbell 768 22.89%				Joseph Downey† St. George's
							Merged district
								William Abbott Port au Port
White Bay		Joseph Moore 1,573 65.90%		Joseph Strong 814 34.10%				Joseph Strong

Notes

1. Not the incumbent, but ran in this seat and won
2. As the Liberal-Conservative-Progressive Party
3. As a coalition government with the Fishermen's Protective Union