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Canadian federal election, 1891


The 1891 Canadian federal election was won by the Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald. Macdonald led a conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons. Macdonald died a few months after the election.

John Abbott succeeded Macdonald as Conservative leader and Prime Minister. Abbott's most famous political comment was "I hate politics."

This was Wilfrid Laurier's first election as leader of the Liberals. Although he lost this election, he returned in 1896 to win a solid majority.

The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy, a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported reciprocity (free trade) with the United States.

National results

Party Party Leader # of candidates Seats Popular Vote
Before After Change # % Change
Conservative 187 87 97 +11.5% 332,961 42.96% +2.80 %
Liberal-Conservative 25 24 20 -16.7% 43,557 5.62% 1.64%
Liberal 194 79 90 +13.9% 350,512 45.22% +2.09%
Independent Conservative
4 3 3 - 15,045 1.94% +0.38%
Independent
4 3 2 -66.7% 6,357 0.82% -0.42%
Nationalist
1 1 1 - 0 (1) 0.00% -0.66%
Independent Liberal
2 5 1 -80% 5,573 0.72% -1.45%
Nationalist Conservative
1 2 1 -50% 1,271 0.16% -0.32%
Unknown
14 1 0 -100% 16,890 2.18% -1.15%
Equal Rights
2 - - - 2,455 0.32% +0.32%
Progressive (2)
2 - - - 468 0.06% +0.06%
Total
436
205
215
+4.9%
775,089
100.0%
-
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

"Before" refers to the standings in the House of Commons at the last election, and not to the standings at dissolution.

(1) One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.

(2) The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being “Progressives”. This may be an error.

Acclamations:

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

  • British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
  • Manitoba: 1 Conservative
  • Ontario: 1 Conservative
  • Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Nationalist

Results by province

Party Name BC NW MB ON QC NB NS PE Total
Conservative Seats: 5 4 4 39 24 10 12 2 97
Vote (%): 71.6 81.0 12.6 42.2 45.4 48.9 41.9 48.5 43.0
Liberal-Conservative Seats: 1   3 7 3 2 4   20
Vote (%):     40.5 5.3 3.0 3.7 10.8   5.6
Liberal Seats: - - 1 44 33 4 5 3 90
Vote (%): 28.4 19.0 46.9 49.1 45.9 41.3 43.6 41.0 45.2
Independent Conservative Seats:       1 2       3
Vote (%):       1.3 5.9       1.9
Independent Seats:       1 1 -     2
Vote (%):       0.7 1.2 3.2     0.8
Nationalist Seats:         1       1
Vote (%):         -       -
Independent Liberal Seats:           -   1 1
Vote (%):           2.9   10.5 0.7
Nationalist Conservative Seats:         1       1
Vote (%):         0.7       0.2
Total Seats   6 4 5 92 65 16 21 6 215
Parties that won no seats:
Unknown Vote (%):       2.0 3.8   3.1   2.2
Equal Rights Vote (%):       0.7         0.3
Progressive Vote (%):             0.5   0.1
Last updated: 05-07-2005 07:01:25
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04