Craftian general election, 1963

A general election was held on Monday, 16 December 1963 to determine the members of the 10th Provincial Parliament of the Province of Craftia.

The incumbent right-wing Protection of Craftia Party government had been in power since 1959. It had been serving in a minority government since March 1963, following multiple defections and resignations from the party. Following numerous corruption and electoral manipulation charges laid against the government, Premier Gary Smith was impeached and removed from office on 1 December 1963, precipitating this early election. Protection-turned-Progressive Speaker of the Craftian Provincial Legislative Assembly John Anderson was sworn in as interim Premier due to protocol as both the Premier and Deputy Premier positions were vacant, and an election was immediately called for 16 December.

On election day, the Protection Party, led by new leader Bartholomew Riley, suffered a crushing defeat, facing a swing of 39.47 percent to finish with just 3.22 percent of the vote. This was the worst defeat for an incumbent government at that point in Craftian history, and has only been surpassed by the Craftian Conservative Party's defeat in 2031, both in terms of popular vote percentage and total seats lost. Protection lost all but two of its seats. Riley himself retained the formerly safe seat of Bonestan with a bare 1% margin.

The election became a two-party race between the centre-right National Party of Craftia, led by Wilbur Joyce, and the centre-left National Labour Party, led by longtime leader Allen Wilson. The Nationals edged out Labour to claim a slim majority of seats, giving the party its first election victory since its creation in 1951. In addition, John Anderson retained his own seat for his Progressive Party, founded following his resignation from the Protection Party. None of the other independent defectors were re-elected.

Anderson served as interim Premier until the Joyce Government was sworn in on 26 December. As a result of the damage done by its term in government, Protection languished in the political wilderness for more than a decade, and its support never reached the same levels ever again.