1964 British Guiana general election

1964 British Guiana general election

7 December 1964
53 seats in the House of Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority
Registered	247,604
Turnout	96.98%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Cheddi Jagan Forbes Burnham Peter D'Aguiar Party PPP PNC TUF Seats won 24 22 7 Seat change 4 11 3 Popular vote 109,332 96,657 29,612 Percentage 45.84% 40.52% 12.41% Swing 3.21pp 0.47pp 3.97pp
Premier before election Cheddi Jagan PPP Elected Premier Forbes Burnham PNC

Politics of Guyana
Constitution
Executive President (list) Irfaan Ali Vice President Prime Minister (list) Mark Phillips
Legislature National Assembly Speaker: Manzoor Nadir Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton
Administrative divisions Regions Neighborhood Councils
Elections Recent elections General: 2015 2020 2025 Political parties
Foreign relations Ministry of Foreign Affairs Minister: Hugh Todd Diplomatic missions of / in Guyana Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Guyana portal Other countries

General elections were held in British Guiana on 7 December 1964.^[1] They saw the People's Progressive Party win 24 of the 53 seats. However, the People's National Congress (22 seats) and United Force (7 seats) were able to form a coalition government with a working majority. Despite losing the elections, Prime Minister and PPP leader Cheddi Jagan refused to resign, and had to be removed by Governor Richard Luyt, with Forbes Burnham replacing him.^[2] Voter turnout was 97.0%.^[1]

The elections followed constitutional reforms and the re-establishment of the House of Assembly, which had been abolished in 1953, replacing the bicameral Legislature. The House had 54 members; the Speaker and 53 members elected by proportional representation.^[2] The Speaker was elected from amongst the original elected members, and then gave up their elected seat to be replaced by a member of their own party.