Alberta general election, 1963

Alberta general election, 1963

June 17, 1963 (1963-06-17)

63 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 32 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Ernest Manning Dave Hunter Milt Harradence Party Social Credit Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since May 31, 1943 January 14, 1962 1962 Leader's seat Strathcona East ran in Athabasca (lost) ran in Calgary-West (lost) Last election 61 seats, 55.7% 1 seat, 13.9% 1 seat, 23.9% Seats before 60 1 1 Seats won 60 2 0 Seat change ±0 1 1 Popular vote 221,107 79,709 51,278 Percentage 54.8% 19.8% 12.7% Swing 0.9% 5.9% 11.2%

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

The Alberta general election of 1963 was the fifteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 17, 1963 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C. Manning, won its eighth consecutive term in government, winning roughly the same number of seats in the legislature and share of popular vote that it had in the 1959 election.

Some Social Credit supporters were so confident of their party's chances that they talked of winning "63 in '63", i.e., all 63 seats in the legislature in the 1963 election. They fell short of this goal, but still had an overwhelming majority, reducing the opposition to only three MLAs in total. Indeed, as a share of the overall seats available, this represented Social Credit's greatest victory in its 36-year reign.

Much of the opposition vote shifted away from the Progressive Conservative Party, now led by Milt Harradence, resulting in the party losing its sole seat.

The Liberal Party was a partial beneficiary of the PC Party's decline, but picked up only one additional seat, for a total of two, despite winning almost 20% of the popular vote.

1963 was the last year in Alberta provincial politics when an MLA was acclaimed with the acclamation of Leonard Halmrast in Taber-Warner.

After the PCs won power, they would later speak of "79 in '79".

Results

Notes:

¹ The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation adopted the name "New Democratic Party" for the 1963 and subsequent elections.

² The "Labour Progressive Party" returned to its original "Communist Party of Alberta" name for the 1963 and subsequent elections.

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

See also

• List of Canadian political parties

References

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