British Guiana (Guyana) General Election Collection
Collection — Box: 1
Identifier: SPC7040
Scope and Contents
General electionsin British Guiana on 27 April 1953 were the first held under universal suffrage. The result was 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 Premier.
The Waddington Commission led to constitutional reforms and to the creation of a House of Assembly to replace the Legislative Council. The House consisted of 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).
The PPP ran candidates in 22 of the 24 constituencies. The National Democratic Party contested 15 constituencies and the People's National Party eight. A total of 85 independents,including four United Guiana Party candidates, ran. The United Workers and Farmers Party, while not and official party, contested some seats as independents.
The British Guiana General Elections papers are a small slice of the colonial experience of a nation on the first step towards Independence. These electoral campaign papers are similar to what was produced in many of the islands of the Caribbean in the first elections under Universal Suffrage.
Dates
- Created: 1953
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Rights: Copyright undetermined. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Special Collections & University Archives provides copies of materials in our collections for private study, scholarship, or research. Patrons are responsible for determining the proper copyright holder and securing permission to publish, quote, broadcast, exhibit, or perform that work. FIU Special Collections will provide all available information about the copyright holder of materials found in our collections.
For more information please visit: https://library.fiu.edu/find/copyright/general
Special Collections & University Archives provides copies of materials in our collections for private study, scholarship, or research. Patrons are responsible for determining the proper copyright holder and securing permission to publish, quote, broadcast, exhibit, or perform that work. FIU Special Collections will provide all available information about the copyright holder of materials found in our collections.
For more information please visit: https://library.fiu.edu/find/copyright/general
Extent
1.00 boxes
Language of Materials
English
Method of Acquisition
Donation
- Elections- Guyana- 1953 Subject Source: Local sources
- Guyana- Politics and government, 1803-1966 Subject Source: Local sources
- Title
- British Guiana (Guyana) General Election Collection
- Author
- Althea (Vicki) Silvera
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Florida International University Repository