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Canadian federal election, 1935



In the 1935 Canadian federal election, the Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.

The central issue was the economy, which was still in the depths of the Great Depression. Bennett, in office since the 1930 election, had done little to stimulate the economy during his first few years, believing the free market would correct itself. In the last months of his time in office, he reversed his position, however, copying the popular New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt in the United States. Upset about high unemployment and inaction by the federal government, voters were unwilling to allow the Conservatives to continue to govern, despite their change of policy.

The Conservatives were also suffering severe internal divisions. During his first years in office, Bennett had alienated those in his party who supported intervention in the economy. His last minute conversion to interventionism alienated the rest of the party. Former cabinet minister H.H. Stevens left to form the Reconstruction Party. Senior minister Sir Joseph Flavelle announced he would be supporting the Liberals.

Voters opted for Mackenzie King's promise of mild reforms to restore economic health. The Liberals crushed the Tories, winning 171 seats to the Conservatives' 39, the worst ever performance by the Tories. The Liberal Party would continue to hold power until 1957.

The 1935 election was also important in it saw the final demise of the Progressive Party and the United Farmers of Alberta. Two new movements rose out of the west, however. The new Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, a social democratic party, first competed in this election and won seven seats, promising social reform. The Social Credit Party was even more successful, capturing seventeen seats on its platform of monetary reform.

National results

Party Party Leader # of candidates Seats Popular Vote
Previous After % Change # % Change
Liberal 245 90 173 +92.2% 1,967,839 44.68% +0.65%
Conservative 228 134 39 -70.9% 1,290,671 29.84% -18.48%
Cooperative Commonwealth 121 n.a. 7 n.a. 410,125 9.31% n.a.
Social Credit 46 n.a. 17 n.a. 180,679 4.10% n.a.
Liberal-Progressive
5 3 4 +33.3% 29,569 0.67% -0.48%
Reconstruction 172 n.a. 1 n.a. 384,462 8.73% n.a.
Independent Liberal
24 - 1 54,239 1.23% +0.86%
Independent
13 2 1 -50.0% 17,207 0.39% -0.16%
United Farmers of Ontario-Labour
1 - 1 7,210 0.39% +0.16%
Independent Conservative
4 - 1 1,078 0.02% -0.24%
Communist 12 - - 20,140 0.46% +0.34%
Labour
5 2 - -100% 14,423 0.33% -0.35%
Progressive-Conservative
2 1 - -100% 12,220 0.28% -0.13%
Verdun
1 n.a. - n.a. 4,214 0.10% n.a.
Anti-Communist
1 n.a. - n.a. 3,961 0.09% n.a.
Unknown
3 - - 3,407 0.08% -0.11%
Independent Reconstructionist
1 n.a. 0 n.a. 865 0.02% n.a.
Technocrat
1 n.a. 0 n.a. 733 0.02% n.a.
Liberal-Labour
3 - -0 708 0.02% -0.17%
Socialist
1 n.a. - n.a. 251 0.01% n.a.
Independent Labour
1 n.a. - n.a. 221 0.01% -0.41%
Veteran
1 n.a. - n.a. 79 x n.a.
Total
891
245
245
-
4,404,301
100.00%
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

"Previous" refers to the results from the previous election, and not to the standings in the House of Commons at dissolution.

n.a. - not applicable - party was not recognized at last election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Results by province

Party Name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE YK Total
Liberal Seats won by party: 6 1 16 10 56 59 9 12 4 - 173
Popular Vote (%): 31.8 21.6 40.8 31.7 42.2 56.0 57.2 52.7 58.3 44.4 44.7
Conservative Seats: 5 1 1 1 25 5 1 - - 39
Vote: 24.9 17.6 18.0 27.9 35.8 27.5 31.9 34.5 38.4 29.8
Cooperative Commonwealth Seats: 3 - 2 2 - -       7
Vote: 32.7 12.0 21.3 19.4 8.0 0.6     8.8
Social Credit Seats: - 15 2 -             7
Vote: 0.6 46.6 17.8 2.0             4.1
Liberal-Progressive Seats:       4           3
Vote:       10.5           0.7
Reconstruction Seats: 1 - - - - - - - -   2
Vote: 7.3 0.7 1.3 5.9 11.4 9.3 9.7 12.7 3.4   8.7
Independent Liberal Seats:       - - 1 - -     1
Vote:     0.2 0.6 3.8 0.4 3     1.2
Independent Seats: 1     - - - -       1
Vote: 1.8 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.8     0.4
UFO-Labour Seats:         1           1
Vote:         0.5           0.2
Independent Conservative Seats:         -       1 1
Vote:         xx       55.6 xx
Total Seats   16 17 21 17 82 65 10 12 4 1 245
Parties that won no seats:
Communist Vote: 0.5 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.3         0.5
Farmer-Labour Vote: 0.3       0.5 0.5         0.3
Progressive-Conservative Vote:       0.5   0.7         0.1
Verdun Vote:           0.4         0.1
Anti-Communist Vote:         0.2           0.1
Unknown Vote:         0.x 0.x         0.1
Independent Reconstruction Vote:           0.1         xx
Technocrat Vote:   0.3                 xx
Liberal-Labour Vote:           0.1         xx
Socialist Vote: 0.1                   xx
Independent Labour Vote:           0.x         xx
Veteran Vote:           0.x         xx

xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote

Last updated: 05-13-2005 18:30:10
Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04