In the 1925 Canadian election, William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberals formed a minority government, leading to the King-Byng Affair.
The Liberals under Mackenzie King won fewer seats than Arthur Meighen's Conservatives. A third party, the Progressives, which had exploded onto the scene in the 1921 election, held the balance of the seats. King decided to hold onto power with the help of the Progressives. The Progressives were closely aligned with the Liberals, and allowed King to form a minority govenrment.
Complicating this plan was the fact that not only had his party lost the election, but King himself had lost his seat in the House of Commons. Meighen was outraged by King's move, and demanded that King resign from the Prime Minister's office. King asked a Liberal Member of Parliament for Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to resign so that King could run in the resulting by-election. Prince Albert was one of the safest seats in Canada for the Liberals, and King won easily.
An interesting side-note is that his Conservative opponent was John Diefenbaker. While Diefenbaker stood no chance against King in 1925, he would later win both the riding of Prince Albert and the Prime Minister's office.
With King back in Parliament, a huge scandal rocked the King cabinet when one of his appointees was discovered to be accepting bribes. Anticipating a defeat in the Commons, King asked the Governor General, Viscount Byng of Vimy, to call an election. The Governor General refused, and King resigned.
King was not a crusader, or a polemist, or a debater, but he saw this as interference in Canadian politics by an official appointed by a foreign power. King showed rare fire, and rallied the Progressives back into his camp. He defeated Meighen on a vote of confidence after only a few months. This time, Byng called an election.
King parlayed his tantrum into a majority government in the 1926 election, and drove Meighen out of power as Conservative leader.
Results
National
| Party |
Party Leader |
# of candidates |
Seats |
Popular Vote |
| Before |
After |
% Change |
# |
% |
Change |
|
Conservative
|
|
232 |
|
114 |
|
1,454,253 |
46.13% |
+16.18% |
|
Liberal
|
|
216 |
|
101 |
|
1,252,684 |
39.74% |
-1.41% |
|
Progressive
|
Robert Forke
|
68 |
|
22 |
|
266,319 |
8.45% |
-12.65% |
|
Labour
|
|
20 |
|
2 |
|
56,987 |
1.81% |
-0.93% |
| Independent |
|
8 |
|
2 |
|
16,212 |
0.51% |
-2.52% |
|
United Farmers of Alberta
|
|
2 |
|
2 |
|
8,053 |
0.26% |
-0.46% |
| Independent Liberal |
|
10 |
|
1 |
|
31,140 |
0.99% |
+0.90% |
| Independent Conservative |
|
6 |
|
1 |
|
16,759 |
0.53% |
+0.14% |
| Unknown |
|
5 |
|
0 |
|
20,583 |
0.65% |
+0.16% |
| Liberal-Protectionist |
|
2 |
|
0 |
|
6,915 |
0.22% |
+0.22% |
|
Independent Liberal-Progressive
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
4,958 |
0.16% |
+0.16% |
|
Labour-Farmer
|
|
2 |
|
0 |
|
4,774 |
0.15% |
+0.15% |
|
Liberal-Progressive
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
3,319 |
0.11% |
+0.11% |
|
Independent Labour
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
2,901 |
0.09% |
+0.09% |
|
Socialist
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
1,888 |
0.06% |
-0.04% |
| Independent Progressive |
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
1,768 |
0.06% |
-0.05% |
| Farmer |
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
1,130 |
0.04% |
+0.04% |
|
Progressive-Conservative
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
1,120 |
0.04% |
+0.04% |
|
Farmer-Labour
|
|
1 |
|
0 |
|
762 |
0.02% |
+0.02% |
| Total |
|
579
|
|
245
|
|
3,152,525
|
100.00%
|
|
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E |
n.a. = not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election
x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote
Province by Province breakdown
| Party Name |
BC
|
AB
|
SK
|
MB
|
ON
|
QC
|
NB
|
NS
|
PE
|
YK
|
Total |
|
Conservative
|
Seats: |
10 |
3 |
|
7 |
67 |
4 |
10 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
114 |
| Popular Vote (%): |
49.3 |
31.8 |
25.4 |
41.3 |
56.3 |
34.2 |
59.7 |
56.4 |
33.1 |
59.4 |
46.1 |
|
Liberal
|
Seats: |
3 |
4 |
15 |
1 |
12 |
59 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
|
101 |
| Vote (%): |
34.7 |
27.6 |
41.9 |
20.3 |
30.9 |
59.6 |
37.0 |
41.9 |
52.0 |
40.6 |
39.7 |
|
Progressive
|
Seats: |
|
7 |
6 |
7 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
22 |
| Vote (%): |
6.1 |
26.5 |
31.8 |
25.1 |
8.8 |
|
|
|
|
|
8.5 |
|
Labour
|
Seats: |
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
| Vote: |
6.3 |
6.1 |
|
9.6 |
1.2 |
0.2 |
|
1.6 |
|
|
1.8 |
| Independent |
Seats: |
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
| Vote (%): |
2.6 |
|
|
|
0.6 |
1.4 |
0.8 |
|
|
|
0.5 |
|
United Farmers of Alberta
|
Seats: |
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
| Vote (%): |
|
5.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.3 |
| Independent Liberal |
Seats: |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
| Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
|
3.8 |
|
|
|
|
1.0 |
| Independent Conservative |
Seats: |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
| Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
1.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
0.5 |
| Parties that won no seats |
| Unknown |
Vote (%): |
|
|
0.1 |
|
0.9 |
0.2 |
|
|
15.0 |
|
0.7 |
| Liberal-Protectionist |
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
|
0.9 |
|
|
|
|
0.2 |
|
Independent Liberal-Progressive
|
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
|
|
3.3 |
|
|
|
0.2 |
|
Labour-Farmer
|
Vote (%): |
|
3.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.2 |
|
Liberal-Progressive
|
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
1.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
|
Independent Labour
|
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
1.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
|
Socialist
|
Vote (%): |
1.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
| Independent Progressive |
Vote (%): |
|
|
0.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
| Farmer |
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
xx |
|
Progressive-Conservative
|
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
xx |
|
Farmer-Labour
|
Vote (%): |
|
|
|
|
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
xx |
| Total Seats |
|
14 |
16 |
21 |
17 |
82 |
65 |
11 |
14 |
4 |
1 |
245 |
| Other candidates: |
Last updated: 04-25-2005 03:06:01