1954 British Honduras general election

1954 British Honduras general election

28 April 1954
All 9 seats in the Legislative Assembly
Turnout	70.41%
First party Second party   PUP NP Leader Leigh Richardson (acting) Harrison Courtenay Party PUP NP Leader since 1953 1951 Leader's seat Belize West Did not run Seats won 8 1 Popular vote 9,461 3,342 Percentage 65.04% 22.98%
Majority party leader before election N/A Elected Majority party leader Leigh Richardson PUP

General elections were held in British Honduras on 28 April 1954, the first held under universal suffrage. The new constitution replaced the Legislative Council with a Legislative Assembly, which had nine elected members, three officials and three appointed members. The result was a decisive victory for the pro-independence People's United Party, which won eight of the nine seats in a coalition with the General Workers' Union.

The pro-colonial National Party won the remaining seat, with NP candidate Charles Westby prevailing in the Toledo constituency.

Background

Prior to 1954, there were only six elected seats in the British Honduras Legislative Assembly. Eligibility to vote was limited to British subjects, that had lived in the colony for at least a year, whom owned property worth over $96, paid more than $6 in property tax or had an annual salary of over $300.

In March 1954, a new constitution for British Honduras was introduced, guaranteeing universal suffrage and nine directly elected seats in the Legislative Assembly. There would also be 3 seats for people nominated by the Governor of British Honduras and 3 for paid officials. The two main camps contesting the election were the anti-colonial People's United Party with the General Worker's Union and the pro-British National Party with independents.

Due to concerns about Communist influence from neighbouring South American countries, the Governor Patrick Muir Renison put out a broadcast threatening to cancel the elections if "emotionalism" did not cease. He later stated at a news conference that: "the election thus far has been singularly free of foreign intervention."

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	People's United Party	9,461	65.04	8
	National Party	3,342	22.98	1
	Independents	1,743	11.98	0
Total		14,546	100.00	9
Valid votes		14,546	99.32
Invalid/blank votes		100	0.68
Total votes		14,646	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		20,801	70.41
Source: Elections and Boundaries Department

By division

The results for each division is as follows:

Division	Turnout	Political party		Candidate	Votes	%
Belize North	2,474		People's United Party	George Price		75.0
			Independent	John Smith		25.0
Belize Rural	1,445		People's United Party	Herman Jex		51.8
			Independent	Fred Hunter		39.0
			National Party	MBL Wilson		9.3
Belize South	1,854		People's United Party	Phillip Goldson		52.7
			National Party	Herbert Fuller		47.3
Belize West	2,626		People's United Party	Leigh Richardson		71.7
			National Party	Lionel Francis		22.5
			Independent	Frederick Westby		5.8
Cayo	1,300		People's United Party	Enrique De Paz		85.5
			Independent	S.A. McKinstry		14.5
Corozal	1,111		People's United Party	Jose Leon Chin		63.2
			Independent	William Gegg		36.8
Orange Walk	878		People's United Party	George Flowers		64.6
			National Party	William George		35.4
Stann Creek	2,023		People's United Party	Nathaniel Cacho		60.9
			National Party	Catarino Benguche		39.1
Toledo	935		National Party	Charles Westby		54.0
			People's United Party	George Gardiner		46.0