George B. Cole

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| name = George B. Cole

| birth_date = 1900

| birth_place = Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia

| death_date = {{death date|1970|1|16}}

| death_place =

| office = MLA for Hants West

| term_start = June 1949

| term_end = March 22, 1950

| predecessor = new riding

| successor = George Henry Wilson

| party = Nova Scotia Liberal Party

| religion =

| occupation =

}}

George Benjamin Cole (October 16, 1900 – January 16, 1970)https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/135838412/george-benjamin-cole was a Canadian politician. He represented the electoral district of Hants West in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from June 1949 to March 1950. He was a member of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.{{cite web|url=https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/constituencies/pdfs/hants%20west.pdf|title=Electoral History for Hants West|publisher=Nova Scotia Legislative Library|accessdate=2018-04-04}}

Born in 1900 at Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia, Cole was the son of George and Elizabeth (Ward) Cole.{{cite book|last1=Elliott|first1=Shirley B.|title=The Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, 1758–1983 : a biographical directory|url=https://archive.org/details/legislativeassem0000unse/page/38|accessdate=2018-04-04|year=1984|publisher=Public Archives of Nova Scotia|isbn=0-88871-050-X|page=[https://archive.org/details/legislativeassem0000unse/page/38 38]}} Prior to the 1949 election, Cole defeated former Windsor mayor Gordon B. Crossley for the Liberal nomination in Hants West.{{cite news|title=96 enter contest for 37 seats at stake in N.S.|work=The Globe and Mail|date=May 27, 1949}} On election night, Cole trailed Progressive Conservative George H. Wilson by three votes, but Cole asked for a recount.{{cite news|title=N.S. re-elects Liberals, PC's gain eight seats|work=The Globe and Mail|date=June 10, 1949}} On June 18, a recount resulted in a tie between Cole and Wilson which was broken when the returning officer cast the deciding vote for Cole, declaring him elected by one vote.{{cite news|title=One vote decides Nova Scotia seat|work=The Globe and Mail|date=June 20, 1949}} In January 1950, Wilson appealed the election result to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court, where under the Nova Scotia Controverted Elections Act, the returning officer's decision was ruled an undue return and the election voided.{{cite web|url=http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201949.pdf |title=Returns of General Election for the House of Assembly 1949 |publisher=Elections Nova Scotia |pages=1–2 |accessdate=2015-05-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518081248/http://electionsnovascotia.ca/sites/default/files/General%20Election%201949.pdf |archivedate=2015-05-18 }} After serving nine months as MLA, Cole officially vacated the seat on March 22, and did not run in the resulting byelection. Cole died on January 16, 1970.