1955 Toronto municipal election
Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 5, 1955. Incumbent mayor Nathan Phillips, elected a year earlier, was easily reelected, defeating Controller Roy E. Belyea and Trotskyist Ross Dowson. Two referendums were held with the elections. One, which passed, was to extend the municipal term to two years. Previously elections had been held every year. There was also a vote on funding a new Toronto City Hall, which was rejected by voters. Toronto mayor. Nathan Phillips was opposed for reelection after his first year in office by Board of Control member Roy E.  Belyea, who had been a staunch opponent of Phillips during the year. Also running was Trotskyist Ross Dowson. Plebiscites. Two questions appeared on the ballot. The first was on whether municipal terms of office should be extended to two years from one. The second was to authorize the construction of a proposed new city hall to replace the existing city hall, which had been built in 1899. The proposed structure, designed by a partnership of three leading Toronto architectural forms, would have been a conservative, symmetrical limestone-clad building in the Modernist style facing a landscaped square, and was widely  criticized as "drab and boxy". Two-year terms would be put in place effective the 1956 Toronto municipal election. Source: "Mayoralty and Questions" "The Globe and Mail" (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 5 As a result of the rejection of the proposed structure, city council decided, in 1956, to hold an [international architectural design competition to find a better design. A proposal by Finnish architect Viljo Revell would be accepted. Construction of New City Hall began in 1961, and the building was officially opened in 1966. Board of Control. There were two vacancies on the Board of  Control after Roy E. Belyea's decision to run for mayor and Controller David Balfour's decision to retire. The most senior two Controllers in terms of votes also sat on Metro Toronto Council. City council. Two aldermen were elected per Ward. The alderman with the most votes was declared Senior Alderman and sat on both Toronto City Council and Metro Council. Results are taken from the December 6, 1955 "Toronto Star" and might not exactly match final tallies. Suburbs. Etobicoke, East York, Mimico, and Forest Hill elected their councils for two-year terms in 1954 and did not hold  elections in 1955. Leaside. Hiscott defeated Councillor Joseph Bannigan to replace retiring mayor Howard Burrell Source: "Suburban elections", "The Globe and Mail" (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 13 McMahon was re-elected, defeating his challenger Deputy Reeve Maurice T. Hook. North York. Source: "Fred McMahon Is Re-elected N. York Reeve", "The Globe and Mail" (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 13 Scarborough. Harris defeated the incumbent, Oliver Crockford Source: "Suburban elections", "The Globe and Mail" (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]06 Dec 1955: 13 York. Source: "Few Brave Cold Rain To Vote in 3  Suburbs", Taylor, Ewart. "The Globe and Mail" (1936-2016); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]05 Dec 1955: 1