# Social Credit candidates, 1953 Manitoba provincial election
The Social Credit candidates of 1953 were the nominees of the Manitoba Social Credit party in the provincial general election held on 8 June 1953, with two constituencies (Rupertsland and Ste. Rose) deferred to 6 July. The party fielded candidates across rural and Winnipeg constituencies, won 35,750 votes, and elected two members, William Bullmore in Dauphin and Gilbert Hutton in Minnedosa, out of 57 seats.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Election date | 8 June 1953, with Rupertsland and Ste. Rose deferred to 6 July[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) |
| Party leader | Not identified in the results record (listed as "?")[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) |
| Popular vote | 35,750 of 267,636 votes cast province-wide[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) |
| Seats won | 2 of 57: Dauphin and Minnedosa[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) |
| Top candidate | William Lewis Bullmore, 2,534 votes in Dauphin[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) |
| Electoral system | Last Manitoba election conducted under proportional voting; Winnipeg seats used multi-member constituencies with the single transferable ballot[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) • [3](https://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/downloads/historicalsummary.pdf) |
## Campaign context
**Out-of-province organizers.** The distinguishing feature of the Social Credit campaign in 1953 was the attempt by Social Credit organizers from Alberta and [British Columbia](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-columbia) to repeat what had been achieved in British Columbia the previous year, where the party had come to power in 1952.[2](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/roblinsrise.shtml) The Manitoba campaign took place in a legislature still dominated by the Liberal-Progressive government of Douglas Lloyd Campbell, which won 32 seats, followed by the Progressive Conservatives with 12 and the [Co-operative Commonwealth Federation](https://www.edgepedia.org/co-operative-commonwealth-federation) with 5.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
**Organization was thin.** The party is recorded in the results table without a leader, and one account indicates Social Credit had planned to stay out of the elections until Roger Poiron entered the Mountain poll without consulting the provincial party.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) Poison's candidacy went unrewarded: in Mountain, Dollard Eustache Lafreniere led the Social Credit count with 894 votes against Liberal-Progressive winner Ivan Schultz's 1,851, and Poiron does not appear among the listed Social Credit candidates.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
## The electoral system
The 1953 election was the last in Manitoba in which proportional voting was used.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) Winnipeg's three divisions each elected four members through the single transferable ballot, while rural constituencies used preferential (alternative) balloting; this system was abandoned in 1958 in favor of first-past-the-post in all constituencies.[3](https://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/downloads/historicalsummary.pdf)
## Elected candidates
**William Lewis Bullmore** (1912–1972) led the Social Credit ticket with 2,534 first-count votes in Dauphin, ahead of Liberal-Progressive John Potoski (1,844), Progressive Conservative Ernest McGirr (1,313), and CCF candidate Frank Fullbrook (78).[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) Dauphin was the party's strongest constituency result of the election.
**Gilbert Alexander Eugene "Bunty" Hutton** (1908–1995) was elected in Minnedosa. He led the first count there with 1,688 votes, ahead of Liberal-Progressive Henry Rungay (1,572) and Progressive Conservative John Burgess (1,047).[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
## Other candidates and strongest showings
The party ran a broad slate, mostly in rural constituencies and in the multi-member Winnipeg seats. Aside from the two winners, the strongest first-count totals were:
- William Gerhardt "Bill" Storsley, Springfield, 1,571[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
- Antonio Lemoine, St. Boniface, 1,537[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
- Delbert LeRoy Downs, Swan River, 1,535[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
- George Loeppky, Dufferin, 1,676[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
- Charles John McKinnon, Norfolk-Beautiful Plains, 1,737[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
Downs reappeared on the ballot a few weeks later: he ran as the Social Credit candidate in Churchill in the federal election of 10 August 1953, receiving 2,490 votes and finishing third.[4](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/federalelection1953.shtml)
In the Winnipeg multi-member constituencies the party ran multiple candidates in each division but elected none. Percival W. Brown's 1,132 first-count votes in Winnipeg Centre was the party's best city total; in Winnipeg North Nicholas Halas received 928, and in Winnipeg South Doreen Benjamin (1,068) and Jemima F. Webster (594) trailed well behind the four members elected there.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
At the other end of the scale, several Social Credit candidates received a few hundred votes or fewer, including George J. Friesen in Emerson (220), Charles Russell Beswatherick in Russell (152), and David Heindrichs in Fisher (144).[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
## Result and aftermath
The party's 35,750 votes placed it fourth in popular support, behind the Liberal-Progressives (105,958), Progressive Conservatives (56,278), and CCF (44,332), but ahead of the Independent Liberals (11,929) and Independents (9,577).[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) With two seats, the two members formed the smallest caucus in the legislature apart from the single Labour Progressive member.[1](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml) The 1953 result was Social Credit's only provincial breakthrough of the period; the next general election, in 1958, was fought under the new single-member, first-past-the-post map.[3](https://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/downloads/historicalsummary.pdf)
## References
1. [Events in Manitoba History: Manitoba Provincial Election (1953), Manitoba Historical Society](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/provincialelection1953.shtml)
2. [David McCormick, "The Dissolution of the Coalition: Roblin's Rise to Leadership," MHS Transactions, Series 3, Number 28](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/transactions/3/roblinsrise.shtml)
3. [Province of Manitoba, Twenty-Fourth General Election Held June 8, 1953, Historical Summary, Elections Manitoba](https://www.electionsmanitoba.ca/downloads/historicalsummary.pdf)
4. [Events in Manitoba History: Canadian Federal Election (1953), Manitoba Historical Society](https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/events/federalelection1953.shtml)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Politics and government › Elections and representation › Elections and referendums › Election campaign companions and indexes › Candidate lists, endorsements, and results breakdowns › Canadian election candidate lists*
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