Winnipeg municipal election, 1953

The 1953 Winnipeg municipal election was held on October 28, 1953, to elect councillors and school trustees in the Manitoba city of Winnipeg. There was no mayoral election; mayors were elected for two-year terms in this period, and 1953 was an off year.

The councillors and trustees were elected by the single transferable ballot, with three members elected for each position in three wards. Electors were allowed to vote for three candidates for each position. There were a total of 18 councillors and 15 trustees in this period, with members elected in alternate years.

A total of three political parties contested this election. The Civic Election Committee (CEC) was a pro-business alliance of Progressive Conservatives and Liberals, and was the dominant party in Winnipeg's predominantly middle-class first ward. The CEC claimed not to be a political party as such, but held nomination meetings and ran organized campaigns in a partisan manner. The socialist Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the communist Labour Progressive Party (LLP) also contested the election. Both parties were strongest in Ward Three, covering the city's working-class north end.

The CEC won five of the nine contested council seats, down two from their pre-election total. The CCF gained one council seat for a total of three, while the LPP regained a foothold on council by winning a seat in Ward Three. The CEC won six trustee seats, the CCF two, and the LPP one.

The CCF attempted to break the CEC's hold over Ward One by fielding only one candidate, in an effort to avoid vote-splitting among supporters. This tactic had proven successful the previous year, when CCF candidate David Mulligan was elected to the second position. Ernest Draffin was not able to repeat this success, however, and all three CEC incumbents were re-elected. The quota for election was 5,322 votes (25%).

...
Wikipedia