General elections were held in

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

in 1935.

Electoral system

The Legislative Council had 30 members, of which 16 were 'official' members (civil servants) and 14 'unofficial' members.F.M. Bourret (1952) ''The Gold Coast: A Survey of the Gold Coast and British Togoland'', Stanford University Press, p49 Of the 14 unofficial members, three were Europeans appointed by the Governor to represent banking, mercantile and shipping interests, and two were Europeans elected by the Chamber of Commerce and Chamber of Mines. The remaining nine unofficial members were Africans, six of which were elected by the Provincial Councils (three by the Eastern Province Council, two by the Central Province Council and one by the Western Province Council) and three directly-elected members representing the municipalities of

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guinea ...

and

Sekondi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...

. The elections were held under a severely limited franchise, with only 4,058 people registered to vote in Accra from a population of around 60,000.Björn M. Edsman (1979) ''Lawyers in Gold Coast politics c. 1900-1945: from Mensah Sarbah to J. B. Danquah'', p183

Campaign

In Accra the contest was a re-run of the 1931 elections, with incumbent MLC

Frederick Nanka-Bruce Frederick Victor Nanka-Bruce (9 October 1878 – 13 July 1953) was a physician, journalist and politician in the Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast. He was the third African to practise medicine, orthodox medicine in the colony, after Benjam ...

again challenged by Kojo Thompson. The after-effects of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

had increased opposition to colonial rule, with Nanka-Bruce's ineffective performance in the Legislative Council benefiting Thompson. The media campaign quickly descended into abuse; Nanka-Bruce was supported only by the ''Gold Coast Independent'' (which he owned) and the ''Times of West Africa'', whilst Thompson received the backing of the ''

African Morning Post The ''African Morning Post'' () was a daily newspaper in Accra, Gold Coast, published by City Press Ltd. Editorial and Pub. Its editor-in-chief in 1934 was Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who later also founded several newspapers in Nigeria, including the ''We ...

'' (and its editor

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the n ...

), the ''Gold Coast Spectator'', the ''Provincial Pioneer'' and ''Vox Populi''. The ''African Morning Post'' accused Nanka-Bruce of being a "sycophantic Uncle Tom, an ultra-moderate stooge, a self-seeker, a traitor and a mummified yes-man".Edsman, p182 Nanka-Bruce used his ''Gold Coast Independent'' to label Thompson as an immoral opportunist in twelve successive issues. Nanka-Bruce was supported by the Accra Ratepayers Association, the Asere Kowulu Party and the Ga Mashi Party. Thompson was supported by the Mambii Party, the Akwapem Improvement Association, the Ashanti Kotoko Society and the

West African Youth League The West African Youth League (WAYL) was a political organisation founded by I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson in June 1935.. The group was a major political force against the colonial government in West Africa, especially in the Gold Coast (British colony), ...

(and its founder

I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson Isaac Theophilus Akunna Wallace-Johnson (1894 – 10 May 1965) was a Sierra Leonean, British West African workers' leader, journalist, activist and politician. Born into a poor Creole family in British Sierra Leone, he emerged as a natural le ...

). On the day before the elections, the Gã Mantse called on his subjects to vote for Thompson.

Results

As in the 1931 elections,

Kobina Arku Korsah Sir Kobina Arku Korsah (3 April 1894 – 25 January 1967)''Makers of Modern Africa'', London: Africa Journal Ltd, 1981, pp. 289-90. was the first Chief Justice of Ghana (then the Gold Coast) in 1956. Biography Born in Saltpond, Korsah was ed ...

was re-elected in Cape Coast and

George James Christian George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

in Sekondi. In Accra, Thompson narrowly defeated Nanka-Bruce by 1,030 votes to 926.Roger Gocking (1999) ''Facing Two Ways: Ghana's Coastal Communities Under Colonial Rule'', pp185–186, 210 Voter turnout was surprisingly less than 50%. However, the tactics of Thompson's supporters, which included blocking access to polling stations for elderly Nanka-Bruce supporters, led to the result being overturned in court when Nanka-Bruce challenged the outcome, the official ruling citing "undue influence of gong-gong beating" and 124 cases of impersonation. By the time the re-run took place on 16 April 1936, the Town Clerk had reduced the voter roll to only 2,858 by removing over 1,200 deceased residents.Holmes, p667 Thompson surprisingly won again with a slightly increased majority of 1,022 votes to 867.

References

{{Ghanaian elections

1935 in Gold Coast (British colony) Elections in Ghana 1935 elections in the British Empire