Gold Coast legislative election, 1954

Ghana

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Ghana
Executive President (list) John Dramani Mahama Vice President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur Ministers Council of State
Legislative Parliament Members of Parliament
Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice: G. T. Wood Human rights
Elections Constituencies Political parties Politicians Electoral Commission Recent elections General: 2008 2012 2016
Administrative divisions Regions Districts
Foreign relations Diplomatic missions
Other countries Atlas Politics portal

Elections for the Legislative Assembly were held for the second time in the Gold Coast on 15 June 1954. They were won by Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party, which took 71 of the 104 seats.

Background

The election was held following the approval of a new constitution on 29 April 1954. The new constitution meant that assembly members were no longer elected by the tribal councils, the Assembly was enlarged, and all members were chosen by direct election from equal, single-member constituencies. It established a cabinet composed of African ministers, and only defense and foreign policy remained in the hands of the governor; the elected assembly was given control over the majority of internal affairs.^[1]

Results

Party	Votes	%	Seats
Convention People's Party	391,817	55.4	72
Northern People's Party	68,709	9.7	15
Ghana Congress Party	32,168	5.0	1
Togoland Congress	25,214	3.5	3
Muslim Association Party	21,172	2.9	1
Anlo Youth Association	11,259	1.5	1
Independents	156,401	22.0	11
Total	706,740	100	104
Registered voters/turnout	1,225,603		–
Source: Sternberger et al.^[2]

Aftermath

In May 1956, Nkrumah's government issued a white paper containing proposals for Gold Coast independence. The British Government stated it would agree to a firm date for independence if a reasonable majority for such a step were obtained in the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly after a general election. This election was held in July 1956, and resulted in another win for the CPP. Gold Coast became the independent nation of Ghana on 6 March 1957.

References

↑ The Politics of the Independence Movements Ghana.co.uk
↑ Dolf Sternberger, Bernhard Vogel, Dieter Nohlen & Klaus Landfried (1969) Die Wahl der Parlamente: Band II: Afrika, Erster Halbband, p786

Elections and referendums in Ghana

Presidential elections	1960 1979 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

Parliamentary elections	1925 1939 1946 1951 1954 1956 1965 1969 1979 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016

Referendums	1956* 1960 1964 1978 1992

* British Togoland only

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, October 18, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.