1871 British Columbia federal by-elections

1871 Canadian federal by-elections in British Columbia

November 24–December 19, 1871 1872  →
elected members  →
All 6 British Columbian seats in the House of Commons [a]
Turnout	388 [b]
First party Second party   LPC Leader John A. Macdonald Vacant Party Conservative [c] Liberal Seats before 0 0 Seats won 3 3 Popular vote 262 0 [d] Percentage 67.5 0.0 [d]
Prime Minister before election John A. Macdonald Conservative Prime Minister after election John A. Macdonald Conservative

The 1871 Canadian federal by-elections in British Columbia occurred in November and December 1871 to elect British Columbia's first Members of Parliament following the province's entry into Canada. Five electoral districts were established to elect six members to the Canadian House of Commons.

Unlike the 1871 British Columbia general election where non-partisan democracy was practiced, candidates in the federal by-elections campaigned as members of the two main Canadian political parties at the time, with the Conservative Party of Canada and Liberal Party of Canada winning three seats each.

Results summary

Party		Votes	Vote %	Seats
	Conservative	262	67.5%	3 / 6 (50%)
	Liberal–Conservative
	Liberal	0 [d]	0.0%	3 / 6 (50%)
	Other	126	32.5%	0 / 6 (0%)
Total		388	100%	6 / 6 (100%)

Results by riding

Electoral district	Candidates
	Conservative		Liberal		Other
Cariboo District [1]		Joshua Spencer Thompson [e] acclaimed		–		–
New Westminster District [2]		Hugh Nelson [e] 125 votes, 83.89%		–		Scott 24 votes, 16.11%
Vancouver Island [3]		Robert Wallace 137 votes, 57.32%		–		John Jessop 102 votes, 42.68%
Victoria District (2 seats) [4]		–		Amor De Cosmos acclaimed		–
				Henry Nathan Jr. acclaimed
Yale District [1]		–		Charles Frederick Houghton acclaimed		–

See also

• 1871 British Columbia general election

References

Notes

1. Elections were held in 5 ridings, as 1 riding (Victoria District) was a dual-member district.
2. Valid ballots cast. No statistics available for rejected ballots.
3. Including Liberal-Conservatives.
4. All successful Liberal candidates were acclaimed.
5. Campaigned and sat as a Liberal-Conservative.

Sources

1. "By-Election(s) (1871-12-19)". Library of Parliament . Retrieved January 7, 2025.
2. "By-Election(s) (1871-12-13)". Library of Parliament . Retrieved January 7, 2025.
3. "By-Election(s) (1871-12-15)". Library of Parliament . Retrieved January 7, 2025.
4. "By-Election(s) (1871-11-24)". Library of Parliament . Retrieved January 7, 2025.