General elections were held in British Guiana on 27 April 1953.Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p354 They were the first held under universal suffrage and resulted in a victory for the People's Progressive Party (PPP), which won 18 of the 24 seats in the new House of Assembly. Its leader, Cheddi Jagan, became prime minister.
Electoral system Constitutional reforms as a result of the Waddington Commission had led to the creation of the House of Assembly to replace the Legislative Council. The new House had 28 members; 24 members elected in single member constituencies, a speaker appointed by the Governor and three ex officio members (the Chief Secretary, the Attorney General and the Financial Secretary).Historical information events and dates on the Parliament of Guyana from 1718 to 2006 Parliament of Guyana
Campaign The PPP ran candidates in 22 of the 24 constituencies, failing to contest the two interior constituencies due to a lack of money. The National Democratic Party contested 15 constituencies and the People's National Party eight. A total of 85 independents,1953 Election GECOM including four United Guiana Party candidates, also contested the elections.The election campaign in 1953 Guyana News and Information The United Workers and Farmers Party did run as a party, but contested some seats as independents.
Results
Elected members ConstituencyMemberPartyNotes1 – North WestWilliam Alfred PhangIndependent2 – PomeroonThomas Sherwood WheatingIndependent3 – Western EssequiboJanet JaganPeople's Progressive PartyDeputy Speaker4 – Essequibo IslandsTheophilus LeeIndependent5 – Bartica and InteriorEugene Francis CorreiaNational Democratic Party6 – Demerara-EssequiboFred BowmanPeople's Progressive Party7 – West Bank DemeraraJai Narine SinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Local Government and Social Welfare8 – East Bank DemeraraJoseph Prayag LachhmansinghPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Health and Housing9 – Upper Demerara RiverCharles Albert CarterIndependent10 – Georgetown SouthAshton ChasePeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Labour, Industry and CommerceClinton Reginald WongPeople's Progressive Party12 – Georgetown CentralJessie BurnhamPeople's Progressive Party13 – Georgetown NorthFrank Obermuller van SertimaPeople's Progressive Party14 – Georgetown North-EastForbes BurnhamPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Education15 – West Central DemeraraRam KarranPeople's Progressive Party16 – Central DemeraraSydney Evanson KingPeople's Progressive PartyMinister of Communications and Works17 – East Central DemeraraJane Phillips-GayPeople's Progressive Party18 – Mahaica-MahaiconyChandra Sama PersaudPeople's Progressive Party19 – Western Berbice20 – New AmsterdamRudy KendallNational Democratic Party21 – Berbice RiverAjodha SinghPeople's Progressive Party22 – Eastern BerbiceRobert Stanley Hanoman SinghPeople's Progressive Party23 – Corentyne CoastCheddi JaganPeople's Progressive PartyLeader of the House and Minister of Agriculture, Forests, Lands and Mines24 – Corentyne RiverMohamed KhanPeople's Progressive Party
Aftermath After assuming power Jagan embarked on implementing a series of policies that involved radical social reform, mainly directed at the colonial oligarchy. The British colonial authorities sent in troops in response to the alleged threat of a Marxist revolution. Governor Alfred Savage suspended the constitution in October (only 133 days after it had come into force) and set up a transitional government of conservative politicians, businessmen and civil servants. Writing in The Guardian in 2020, Gaiutra Bahadur said that "the overthrow of Guyana’s ruling party by colonial forces fomented a racial divide that continues to blight its politics", saying that there was a greater crackdown on the Afro-Guyanese than on the Indo-Guyanese, in a deliberate and successful attempt to divide the PPP.
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