1925 Canadian federal election

Last updated

1925 Canadian federal election
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg
  1921 October 29, 1925 1926  

245 seats in the House of Commons
123 seats needed for a majority
Turnout66.4% [1] (Decrease2.svg1.3pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Former PM Arthur Meighen (cropped).jpg King1919HeadShot (cropped).jpg Robert Forke.jpg
Leader Arthur Meighen W. L. Mackenzie King Robert Forke
Party Conservative Liberal Progressive
Leader since1920 1919 1922
Leader's seat Grenville
candidate in Portage la Prairie
York North (lost re-election) Brandon
Last election4911858
Seats won11510022
Seat changeIncrease2.svg66Decrease2.svg18Decrease2.svg36
Popular vote1,454,2531,252,684266,319
Percentage46.13%39.74%8.45%
SwingIncrease2.svg16.18pp Decrease2.svg1.41pp Decrease2.svg12.65pp

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Ac.woodsworth.jpg Herbert Greenfield - circa 1921-25 (cropped).jpg
Leader J. S. Woodsworth Herbert Greenfield
Party Independent Labour United Farmers of Alberta
Leader since19211921
Leader's seat Winnipeg North Centre Did not run [lower-alpha 1]
Last election32
Seats won22
Seat changeDecrease2.svg1Steady2.svg
Popular vote56,9878,053
Percentage1.81%0.26%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.93pp Decrease2.svg0.46pp

Canada 1925 Federal Election.svg

Chambre des Communes 1925.png
The Canadian parliament after the 1925 election

Prime Minister before election

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Liberal

The 1925 Canadian federal election was held on October 29, 1925 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 15th Parliament of Canada. [2] The Conservative party took the most seats in the House of Commons, although not a majority. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party was invited to form a minority government. Unlike the Conservative party, King's Liberals had the conditional support of the many Farmer/Progressive MPs.

Contents

The government fell the following year. Governor General Baron Byng of Vimy offered the Conservatives under Meighen a chance to form government. This too fell in short order. Byng's action precipitated the "King–Byng Affair", which became the main issue of the 1926 election.

Background

The previous federal election in 1921 had seen Mackenzie King's Liberals fall narrowly short of winning a parliamentary majority, with Arthur Meighen's Conservatives falling to being the third-largest party, and the new Progressive Party, which had nominated candidates for the first time that year, held the balance of power. King was able to rule with the tacit support of the Progressives, and was not facing a statutory federal election until December 1926; however, a budget proposed in September 1925 by finance minister William Stevens Fielding was unexpectedly voted down in parliament, obligating Mackenzie King to resign as Prime Minister and recommend to the Governor General, Baron Byng of Vimy to hold a new election (theoretically King could have recommended that Byng allow either Meighen or Progressive leader Robert Forke to form a government, but the Conservatives were far short of the number of MPs required to form a stable government, and Forke had no interest in being Prime Minister).

Aftermath and the King-Byng Affair

The Liberals won fewer seats than the Conservatives, who were left eight seats short of a majority. The Progressives lost almost two thirds of their seats from the previous election, but they still held enough seats to control the balance of power. King decided to hold on to power with the help of the Progressives. The Progressives were closely aligned with the Liberals and enabled King to form a minority government.

That plan was complicated by the fact that his party won fewer seats than the Conservatives and that King himself had lost his seat in the House of Commons. Meighen was outraged by King's move and demanded for King to resign from the Prime Minister's office. Byng privately agreed that the Conservatives should be allowed to form the next government and felt that the Liberal-Progressive pact was a corrupt bargain, but he found that there were no valid legal grounds for refusing to allow King to continue in office. King asked a Liberal Member of Parliament from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, to resign so that he could run in the resulting by-election. Prince Albert was one of the safest seats in Canada for the Liberals, and King won easily.

With King back in Parliament, a huge scandal rocked the King cabinet when one of his appointees was discovered to be accepting bribes from a male lover[ citation needed ]. Anticipating a vote of censure by the Commons, King asked Byng to call an election. The Governor General refused, and King resigned on June 28, 1926. Meighen was then invited to form a government.

King claimed that was 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 three days, which made the Meighen government of 1926 the shortest-lasting government in Canadian history. This time, Byng called an election.

National results

1925 Canadian parliament English version.svg
PartyParty leader# of
candidates
SeatsPopular vote
1921 Elected% Change#% pp Change
  Conservative Arthur Meighen 23249115+132.7%1,454,25346.13%+16.18
  Liberal W. L. Mackenzie King 216118100-15.3%1,252,68439.74%-1.41
Progressive Robert Forke 685822-62.1%266,3198.45%-12.65
Labour J.S. Woodsworth 2032-33.3%56,9871.81%-0.93
 Independent822-16,2120.51%-2.52
United Farmers of Alberta  222-8,0530.26%-0.46
 Independent Liberal10-1 31,1400.99%+0.90
 Independent Conservative611-16,7590.53%+0.14
 Unknown5---20,5830.65%+0.16
Liberal-Protectionist 2*-*6,9150.22%*
 Independent Liberal-Progressive 1*-*4,9580.16%*
Labour-Farmer 2*-*4,7740.15%*
Liberal–Progressive  1*-*3,3190.11%*
Independent Labour 1*-*2,9010.09%*
Socialist  1---1,8880.06%-0.04
 Independent Progressive11--100%1,7680.06%-0.05
Farmer  1*-*1,1300.04%*
  Progressive-Conservative  1*-*1,1200.04%*
Farmer–Labour  1*-*7620.02%*
Total579235245+3.8%3,152,525100% 
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

* not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote
Conservative
46.13%
Liberal
39.74%
Progressive
8.45%
Others
5.68%
Seat totals
Conservative
46.94%
Liberal
40.82%
Progressive
8.98%
Others
3.27%

Results by province

Party name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE YK Total
  Conservative Seats:103-7674101121115
 Popular Vote (%):49.331.825.441.356.334.259.756.433.159.446.1
  Liberal Seats:341511259132-100
 Vote (%):34.727.641.920.330.959.637.041.952.040.639.7
  Progressive Seats:-7672     22
 Vote (%):6.126.531.825.18.8     8.5
  Labour Seats:-- 2-- -  2
 Vote:6.36.1 9.61.20.2 1.6  1.8
 IndependentSeats:1   -1-   2
 Vote (%):2.6   0.61.40.8   0.5
  United Farmers of Alberta Seats: 2        2
 Vote (%): 5.0        0.3
 Independent LiberalSeats:     1    1
 Vote (%):     3.8    1.0
 Independent ConservativeSeats:    1     1
 Vote (%):    1.4     0.5
Total seats141621178265111441245
Parties that won no seats:
 UnknownVote (%):  0.1 0.90.2  15.0 0.7
Liberal-ProtectionistVote (%):     0.9    0.2
 Independent Liberal-Progressive Vote (%):      3.3   0.2
Labour-FarmerVote (%): 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 ProgressiveVote (%):  0.9       0.1
Farmer Vote (%):     0.1    xx
  Progressive-Conservative Vote (%):     0.1    xx
Farmer–Labour Vote (%):    0.1     xx

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Lyon Mackenzie King</span> 10th prime minister of Canada (1921–1926; 1926–1930; 1935–1948)

William Lyon Mackenzie King was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal, he was the dominant politician in Canada from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. King is best known for his leadership of Canada throughout the Great Depression and the Second World War. He played a major role in laying the foundations of the Canadian welfare state and established Canada's international reputation as a middle power fully committed to world order. With a total of 21 years and 154 days in office, he remains the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history.

The Progressive Party of Canada, formally the National Progressive Party, was a federal-level political party in Canada in the 1920s until 1930. It was linked with the provincial United Farmers parties in several provinces, and it spawned the Progressive Party of Saskatchewan, and the Progressive Party of Manitoba, which formed the government of that province. The Progressive Party was part of the farmers' political movement that included federal and provincial Progressive and United Farmers' parties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1921 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1921 Canadian federal election was held on December 6, 1921, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 14th Parliament of Canada. The Union government that had governed Canada through the First World War was defeated, and replaced by a Liberal government under the young leader William Lyon Mackenzie King. A new third party, the Progressive Party, won the second most seats in the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1926 in Canada</span> Canada-related events during the year of 1926

Events from the year 1926 in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservative Party of Canada (1867–1942)</span> Right-of-centre political party in Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bracken</span> Canadian politician

John Bracken was a Canadian agronomist and politician who was the 11th and longest-serving premier of Manitoba (1922–1943) and later the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (1942–1948).

Liberal-Progressive was a label used by a number of candidates in Canadian elections between 1925 and 1953. In federal and Ontario politics, there was no Liberal-Progressive party: it was an alliance between two parties. In Manitoba, a party existed with this name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Avery Dunning</span> 3rd Premier of Saskatchewan (1922–1926)

Charles Avery Dunning was the third premier of Saskatchewan. Born in England, he emigrated to Canada at the age of 16. By the age of 36, he was premier. He had a successful career as a farmer, businessman, and politician, both provincially and federally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal minority governments in Canada</span> Canadian political history

During the history of Canadian politics, thirteen minority governments have been elected at the federal level. There have also been two minority governments resulting from governments being replaced between elections, for a total of fifteen federal minority governments in thirteen separate minority parliaments. There have been historical cases where the governing party had fewer than half of the seats but had the support of independents who called themselves members of the party; these cases are not included, as there was never any serious chance of the government falling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King–Byng affair</span> 1926 Canadian constitutional crisis

The King–Byng affair was a Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred in 1926, when the governor general of Canada, the Lord Byng of Vimy, refused a request by the prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, to dissolve parliament and call a general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1926 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1926 Canadian federal election was held on September 14, 1926, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 16th Parliament of Canada. The election was called after an event known as the King–Byng affair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Forke</span> Canadian politician

Robert Forke, was a Canadian politician. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Brandon in 1921. In 1922, he replaced Thomas Crerar as leader of the Progressive Party of Canada. Forke served as a cabinet minister in the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Ewan Alexander McPherson was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1926 to 1930. He was also a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1914 to 1920 and from 1932 to 1936, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of John Bracken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">15th Canadian Parliament</span> Parliamentary term of the Parliament of Canada

The 15th Canadian Parliament was in session from 7 January 1926, until 2 July 1926. The membership was set by the 1925 federal election on 29 October 1925, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1926 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Meighen</span> Prime minister of Canada (1874–1960)

Arthur Meighen was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921 and from June to September 1926. He led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 and from 1941 to 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1927 Conservative leadership convention</span>

A Conservative leadership convention was held on October 12, 1927 at the Winnipeg Amphitheatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The convention was held to choose a new leader of the Conservative Party to choose a successor to former Prime Minister of Canada Arthur Meighen who had led the party since 1920. This was the first time the Conservatives used a leadership convention to choose a leader. Previous leaders had been chosen by the party's caucus, the previous leader, or by the Governor General of Canada designating an individual to form a government after his predecessor's death or resignation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of Arthur Meighen</span>

The article is the electoral history of Arthur Meighen, the ninth Prime Minister of Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of William Lyon Mackenzie King</span>

This article is the electoral history of William Lyon Mackenzie King, the tenth Prime Minister of Canada. A Liberal, he was Canada's longest-serving Prime Minister, with three separate terms as Prime Minister, for a total of 21 years and 154 days. He defeated Prime Ministers Arthur Meighen and R.B. Bennett at different times, and was succeeded by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent in 1948.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral history of R. B. Bennett</span>

This article is the electoral history of R. B. Bennett, the eleventh Prime Minister of Canada.

References

  1. "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums" . Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  2. Sharp, Walter R. (1926). "The Canadian Election of 1925". American Political Science Review. 20 (1): 107–117. doi:10.2307/1945102. ISSN   0003-0554.

Notes

  1. The United Farmers of Alberta, which at the time formed the government in that province, did not have a separate party leader at the federal level. At the time of this election, party leader Herbert Greenfield was the Premier of Alberta and the MLA for Peace River in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.