Gold Coast legislative election, 1956

A voter receives a ballot paper from a polling assistant at Kumbungu Polling Station in the Northern Territories.

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Elections for the Legislative Assembly were held in the Gold Coast (soon to become Ghana) on 17 July 1956. They were won by Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party, which took 71 of the 104 seats.^[1]

A new constitution, approved on 29 April 1954, established a cabinet composed of African ministers drawn from an all-African legislature chosen by direct election. In the elections that followed, the Convention People's Party won the majority of seats in the new Legislative Assembly.

Background

A new constitution, approved on 29 April 1954, established a cabinet composed of African ministers drawn from an all-African legislature chosen by direct election. In the elections that followed, the Convention People's Party won the majority of seats in the new Legislative Assembly. In May 1956, Prime Minister 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.

Results

Aftermath

After pro-independence parties won a convincing majority, the British government agreed to grant the colony independence. This happened on 6 March 1957, with the country renamed Ghana. Initially a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II as head of State, the country's democratic credentials were hampered by the Preventive Detention Act (1958). In 1960 a referendum resulted in the country becoming a republic with a presidential form of government, and in 1964 it became a one-party state. Nkrumah was eventually overthrown in 1966.

References

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