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 Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

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 House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible gove ...

. Its leader,

Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 199 ...

, became Prime Minister.

Electoral system

Constitutional reforms as a result of the Waddington Commission had led to the creation of the

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, 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

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 A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' in 2020,

Gaiutra Bahadur Gaiutra Bahadur is a Guyanese-American writer. She is best known for ''Coolie Woman: The Odyssey of Indenture,'' which was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize in 2014. Early life Bahadur was born in New Amsterdam, Guyana, New Amsterdam, East Berbic ...

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 Afro-Guyanese are generally descended from the enslaved people brought to Guyana from the coast of West Africa to work on sugar plantations during the era of the Atlantic slave trade. Coming from a wide array of backgrounds and enduring condition ...

than on the

Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are people of Indian origin who are Guyanese nationals tracing their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginnin ...

, in a deliberate and successful attempt to divide the PPP.

References

{{Guyanese elections British Guiana Elections in Guyana General election British Guiana