1948 Ontario general election

The 1948 Ontario general election was held on June 7, 1948, to elect the 90 members of the 23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario.[1]

1948 Ontario general election

June 7, 1948
90 seats in the 23rd Legislative Assembly of Ontario 46 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader George Drew Ted Jolliffe Party Progressive Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since December 9, 1938 April 3, 1942 Leader's seat High Park (lost re-election) York South Last election 66 8 Seats won 53 21 Seat change 13 13 Percentage 41.5% 27.0% Swing 2.8pp 4.6pp   Third party Fourth party   LP Leader Farquhar Oliver A. A. MacLeod Party Liberal Labor-Progressive Leader since May 16, 1947 1945 Leader's seat Grey South Bellwoods Last election 14 2 Seats won 14 2 Seat change ±0 ±0 Percentage 29.8% 1.0% Swing ±0.0pp 1.4pp
Premier before election George Drew Progressive Conservative Premier after election George Drew Progressive Conservative

George Drew (right) in the offices of the Ontario Department of Transportation the day after his party's election victory

The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by George Drew, won a third consecutive term in office, winning a solid majority of seats in the legislature—53, down from 66 in the previous election.

Despite winning a majority, Drew lost his own seat to temperance crusader Bill Temple. Instead of seeking a seat in a by-election, Drew left provincial politics to run for, and win, the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservative Party.

Drew was replaced as Ontario PC leader and premier by Thomas Kennedy on an interim basis, and then by Leslie Frost.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Farquhar Oliver, increased its caucus from 11 to 14, but lost the role of official opposition. Only one of the three Liberal-Labour MPPs sitting with the Liberal caucus, James Newman, was re-elected.

The social democratic Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section), led by Ted Jolliffe, formed the official opposition by increasing its caucus from 8 to 21 seats.

Two Toronto seats were won by Labor-Progressive Party MPPs J. B. Salsberg and A.A. MacLeod. The LPP was the official name of the Communist Party of Ontario. The LPP only ran two candidates, Salsberg and MacLeod, in 1948 down from 31 candidates in 1945.