1931 Quebec general election

1931 Quebec general election

←  1927 August 24, 1931 1935  →
←  outgoing members elected members  →
90 seats in the 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec 46 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Camillien Houde Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1920 1929 Leader's seat Montmorency Ran in Montréal–Saint-Jacques (defeated) Last election 74 seats, 59.33% 9 seats, 34.31% Seats won 79 11 Seat change 5 2 Percentage 54.88% 43.54% Swing 4.45pp 9.23pp
Premier before election Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Liberal Premier after election Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Liberal

The 1931 Quebec general election was held on August 24, 1931, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Camillien Houde.

It was the third general election victory in a row for Taschereau, who had held office since 1920.

Redistribution of ridings

An Act passed in 1930 ^[1] increased the number of MLAs from 85 to 90 through the following changes:

Abolished ridings	New ridings
Divisions of ridings
Gaspé	Gaspé-Nord Gaspé-Sud
Creation of riding from parts of others
	Gatineau [a 1]
	Laviolette [a 2]
	Rivière-du-Loup [a 3]
	Roberval [a 4]

1. formed from parts of Hull
2. formed from part of Champlain
3. formed from part of Témiscouata
4. formed from parts of Lac-Saint-Jean

Campaign

The Liberals and Conservatives contested all 90 ridings, with 74 being two-way contests, and the remainder were three-way affairs.

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1931) ^[2]

Candidates	Lib	Ind-G	Con-G	Con	Lab-Opp	Ind-Opp	Ind-Lib	Ind-Con	Ind	Lab	Total
2	74			74							148
3	16	2	1	16	2	1	2	4	2	2	48
Total	90	2	1	16	2	1	2	4	2	2	196

Aftermath

The Conservatives initiated proceedings to attempt to quash up to 63 of the Liberal wins. ^[3] In one of the hearings, Houde confessed that he had personally furnished $60,000 towards the effort, but did not disclose where he had gotten the funds from. ^[3] In response, the Taschereau government passed the "Dillon Act", ^[4] which retroactively amended the laws governing the contesting of controverted elections, thus effectively gutting the ongoing actions. ^[5] When the Union Nationale subsequently gained power after the 1936 election, one of its first measures was to repeal this Act and restore the law to what it was before its passage. ^[6]

Results

This was the last election in which a candidate campaigned in multiple ridings. Camillien Houde was nominated in both Montréal–Saint-Jacques and Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and he lost both contests. ^[7]

^[2]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1931)

Political party		Party leader	MLAs				Votes
			Candidates	1927	1931	±	#	±	%	± (pp)
	Government candidates
	█  Liberal	Louis-Alexandre Taschereau	90	74	79	5	268,732	80,045	54.88	4.46
	█  Independent	–	2	–	–	–	2,787	1,422	0.57	0.14
	█  Conservative	–	1	–	–	–	711	New	0.15	New
	Opposition candidates
	█  Conservative	Camillien Houde	90	9	11	2	213,223	104,118	43.54	9.23
	█  Labour	–	2	1	–	1	1,683	2,749	0.34	1.05
	█  Independent	–	1	–	–	–	106	2,579	0.02	0.82
	Other candidates
	█ Independent-Liberal	–	2	1	–	1	1,065	8,280	0.22	2.72
	█ Independent-Conservative	–	4	–	–	–	584	New	0.12	New
	█  Labour	–	2	–	–	–	481	1,861	0.10	0.64
	█  Independent	–	2	–	–	–	323	New	0.06	New
Total			196	85	90		489,695		100%
Rejected ballots							4,190	1,347
Voter turnout							493,885	173,081	77.01	14.10
Registered electors (contested ridings only)							641,324	131,389
Candidates returned by acclamation					–	12

Popular vote PLQ   54.88% PCQ   43.54% Others   1.58%

Seats summary PLQ   87.78% PCQ   12.22%

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1931 Quebec general election ^{[2] [8]}

Riding	Winning party								Turnout [a 1]	Votes
Name	1927		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %		Lib	Con	Gov	Opp	Other	Total
Abitibi		Lib		Lib	2,685	63.42%	1,309	30.92%	76.12%	2,685	1,376	–	–	173	4,234
Argenteuil		Lib		Lib	2,130	55.70%	436	11.40%	80.43%	2,130	1,694	–	–	–	3,824
Arthabaska		Lib		Lib	3,590	68.79%	1,961	37.57%	84.86%	3,590	1,629	–	–	–	5,219
Bagot		Lib		Lib	1,878	52.96%	210	5.92%	89.07%	1,878	1,668	–	–	–	3,546
Beauce		Lib		Lib	3,847	53.77%	1,250	17.47%	82.82%	3,847	2,597	711	–	–	7,155
Beauharnois		Lib		Lib	2,311	51.65%	148	3.31%	82.58%	2,311	2,163	–	–	–	4,474
Bellechasse		Lib		Lib	2,839	67.82%	1,492	35.64%	84.44%	2,839	1,347	–	–	–	4,186
Berthier		Lib		Lib	2,479	57.45%	643	14.90%	87.94%	2,479	1,836	–	–	–	4,315
Bonaventure		Lib		Lib	3,933	58.91%	1,190	17.83%	91.58%	3,933	2,743	–	–	–	6,676
Brome		Lib		Lib	1,472	50.43%	25	0.86%	84.52%	1,472	1,447	–	–	–	2,919
Chambly		Lib		Con	2,834	55.72%	582	11.44%	73.15%	2,252	2,834	–	–	–	5,086
Champlain		Lib		Lib	3,125	53.91%	453	7.81%	87.18%	3,125	2,672	–	–	–	5,797
Charlevoix—Saguenay		Lib		Lib	4,223	59.29%	1,323	18.57%	81.96%	4,223	2,900	–	–	–	7,123
Châteauguay		Lib		Lib	1,661	58.73%	494	17.47%	80.99%	1,661	1,167	–	–	–	2,828
Chicoutimi		Lib		Lib	4,123	43.58%	1,448	15.30%	71.69%	4,123	2,675	2,663	–	–	9,461
Compton		Lib		Lib	2,658	54.84%	469	9.68%	83.63%	2,658	2,189	–	–	–	4,847
Deux-Montagnes		Con		Con	1,645	51.52%	97	3.04%	91.54%	1,548	1,645	–	–	–	3,193
Dorchester		Lib		Lib	3,253	55.67%	663	11.35%	85.53%	3,253	2,590	–	–	–	5,843
Drummond		Lib		Lib	2,848	56.28%	636	12.57%	82.06%	2,848	2,212	–	–	–	5,060
Frontenac		Lib		Lib	2,687	60.57%	938	21.15%	84.94%	2,687	1,749	–	–	–	4,436
Gaspé-Nord	New			Lib	1,330	60.40%	458	20.80%	88.72%	1,330	872	–	–	–	2,202
Gaspé-Sud	New			Lib	2,744	55.80%	570	11.59%	86.33%	2,744	2,174	–	–	–	4,918
Gatineau	New			Lib	2,906	54.87%	759	14.33%	79.80%	2,906	2,147	–	–	243	5,296
Hull		Con		Con	3,491	60.84%	1,244	21.68%	63.95%	2,247	3,491	–	–	–	5,738
Huntingdon		Lib		Con	1,361	53.29%	168	6.58%	81.54%	1,193	1,361	–	–	–	2,554
Iberville		Lib		Lib	1,303	71.16%	775	42.33%	79.02%	1,303	528	–	–	–	1,831
Îles-de-la-Madeleine		Lib		Lib	769	50.26%	8	0.52%	80.88%	769	761	–	–	–	1,530
Jacques-Cartier		Lib		Lib	4,147	51.34%	216	2.67%	77.62%	4,147	3,931	–	–	–	8,078
Joliette		Lib		Lib	3,089	54.70%	531	9.40%	88.46%	3,089	2,558	–	–	–	5,647
Kamouraska		Lib		Lib	2,630	59.44%	835	18.87%	82.21%	2,630	1,795	–	–	–	4,425
L'Assomption		Lib		Lib	1,801	61.20%	783	26.61%	75.15%	1,801	1,018	124	–	–	2,943
L'Islet		Lib		Lib	2,131	60.40%	734	20.80%	78.91%	2,131	1,397	–	–	–	3,528
Labelle		Lib		Lib	1,902	57.92%	520	15.83%	72.28%	1,902	1,382	–	–	–	3,284
Lac-Saint-Jean		Lib		Lib	2,055	52.75%	214	5.49%	80.84%	2,055	1,841	–	–	–	3,896
Laval		Con		Lib	8,696	52.39%	792	4.77%	72.43%	8,696	7,904	–	–	–	16,600
Laviolette	New			Lib	3,010	56.11%	656	12.23%	81.96%	3,010	2,354	–	–	–	5,364
Lévis		Lib		Lib	3,595	53.04%	412	6.08%	86.43%	3,595	3,183	–	–	–	6,778
Lotbinière		Lib		Lib	2,955	67.24%	1,515	34.47%	81.85%	2,955	1,440	–	–	–	4,395
Maisonneuve		Lab		Lib	7,538	49.67%	1,530	10.08%	68.38%	7,538	6,008	–	1,630	–	15,176
Maskinongé		Lib		Lib	1,912	61.24%	702	22.49%	81.47%	1,912	1,210	–	–	–	3,122
Matane		Lib		Lib	2,592	55.86%	544	11.72%	83.98%	2,592	2,048	–	–	–	4,640
Matapédia		Lib		Lib	2,813	62.57%	1,130	25.13%	79.83%	2,813	1,683	–	–	–	4,496
Mégantic		Lib		Lib	4,060	63.09%	1,685	26.18%	79.93%	4,060	2,375	–	–	–	6,435
Missisquoi		Lib		Lib	2,141	54.83%	377	9.65%	78.93%	2,141	1,764	–	–	–	3,905
Montcalm		Lib		Lib	1,765	56.07%	382	12.13%	91.29%	1,765	1,383	–	–	–	3,148
Montmagny		Lib		Lib	2,101	57.45%	545	14.90%	78.94%	2,101	1,556	–	–	–	3,657
Montmorency		Lib		Lib	1,949	58.25%	581	17.36%	89.28%	1,949	1,368	–	–	29	3,346
Montréal-Dorion		Con		Lib	4,831	52.80%	512	5.60%	70.50%	4,831	4,319	–	–	–	9,150
Montréal-Laurier		Lib		Lib	3,565	58.25%	1,426	23.30%	61.85%	3,565	2,139	–	–	416	6,120
Montréal-Mercier		Lib		Lib	9,513	59.45%	3,202	20.01%	69.44%	9,513	6,311	–	–	177	16,001
Montréal–Saint-Georges		Con		Con	1,553	51.37%	83	2.75%	55.27%	1,470	1,553	–	–	–	3,023
Montréal–Saint-Henri		Lib		Lib	3,956	59.91%	1,455	22.04%	74.77%	3,956	2,501	–	–	146	6,603
Montreal–Saint-Jacques [a 2]		Lib		Lib	3,583	56.34%	806	12.67%	73.83%	3,583	2,777	–	–	–	6,360
Montréal–Saint-Laurent		Lib		Lib	2,635	68.98%	1,450	37.96%	83.41%	2,635	1,185	–	–	–	3,820
Montréal–Saint-Louis		Lib		Lib	2,789	78.21%	2,077	58.24%	62.08%	2,789	712	–	–	65	3,566
Montreal–Sainte-Anne		Lib		Lib	2,069	54.38%	683	17.95%	70.89%	2,069	1,386	–	–	350	3,805
Montréal–Sainte-Marie [a 2]		Lib		Lib	4,989	52.43%	515	5.41%	74.10%	4,989	4,474	–	53	–	9,516
Montréal-Verdun		Con		Con	7,074	51.12%	1,132	8.18%	64.60%	5,942	7,074	–	–	822	13,838
Napierville-Laprairie		Lib		Lib	2,337	58.67%	691	17.35%	86.81%	2,337	1,646	–	–	–	3,983
Nicolet		Lib		Lib	3,316	57.91%	1,012	17.67%	80.86%	3,316	2,304	–	106	–	5,726
Papineau		Lib		Lib	3,554	56.43%	810	12.86%	79.55%	3,554	2,744	–	–	–	6,298
Pontiac		Lib		Lib	2,164	52.44%	201	4.87%	75.40%	2,164	1,963	–	–	–	4,127
Portneuf		Lib		Lib	3,746	52.14%	308	4.29%	84.80%	3,746	3,438	–	–	–	7,184
Québec-Centre		Lib		Lib	3,522	54.95%	635	9.91%	76.59%	3,522	2,887	–	–	–	6,409
Québec-Comté		Lib		Lib	3,747	54.66%	639	9.32%	92.20%	3,747	3,108	–	–	–	6,855
Québec-Est		Lib		Lib	5,021	57.67%	1,336	15.35%	81.55%	5,021	3,685	–	–	–	8,706
Québec-Ouest		Lib		Lib	1,641	52.82%	175	5.63%	80.82%	1,641	1,466	–	–	–	3,107
Richelieu		Lib		Lib	2,685	55.13%	532	10.92%	87.51%	2,685	2,153	–	–	32	4,870
Richmond		Lib		Lib	2,915	59.81%	956	19.61%	79.93%	2,915	1,959	–	–	–	4,874
Rimouski		Lib		Lib	2,455	52.25%	211	4.49%	87.80%	2,455	2,244	–	–	–	4,699
Rivière-du-Loup	New			Lib	3,777	64.29%	1,679	28.58%	81.64%	3,777	2,098	–	–	–	5,875
Roberval	New			Lib	2,732	52.89%	299	5.79%	88.00%	2,732	2,433	–	–	–	5,165
Rouville		Lib		Con	1,562	50.23%	14	0.45%	88.06%	1,548	1,562	–	–	–	3,110
Saint-Hyacinthe		Lib		Lib	3,115	58.78%	931	17.57%	86.85%	3,115	2,184	–	–	–	5,299
Saint-Jean		Lib		Lib	2,387	74.02%	1,549	48.03%	74.72%	2,387	838	–	–	–	3,225
Saint-Maurice		Lib		Lib	3,571	57.36%	916	14.71%	82.38%	3,571	2,655	–	–	–	6,226
Saint-Sauveur		Lib		Con	3,911	50.16%	25	0.32%	85.89%	3,886	3,911	–	–	–	7,797
Shefford		Lib		Lib	2,989	52.94%	332	5.88%	83.21%	2,989	2,657	–	–	–	5,646
Sherbrooke		Con		Lib	4,114	52.51%	394	5.03%	76.69%	4,114	3,720	–	–	–	7,834
Soulanges		Lib		Lib	1,120	58.89%	338	17.77%	82.09%	1,120	782	–	–	–	1,902
Stanstead		Lib		Lib	2,907	58.59%	852	17.17%	80.69%	2,907	2,055	–	–	–	4,962
Témiscamingue		Lib		Lib	2,062	60.13%	695	20.27%	77.71%	2,062	1,367	–	–	–	3,429
Témiscouata		Lib		Lib	1,671	52.45%	156	4.90%	87.57%	1,671	1,515	–	–	–	3,186
Terrebonne		Lib		Lib	4,749	65.97%	2,299	31.93%	81.15%	4,749	2,450	–	–	–	7,199
Trois-Rivières		Con		Con	3,812	50.27%	41	0.54%	82.96%	3,771	3,812	–	–	–	7,583
Vaudreuil		Lib		Lib	1,385	55.22%	262	10.45%	83.83%	1,385	1,123	–	–	–	2,508
Verchères		Lib		Lib	1,623	60.04%	543	20.09%	88.51%	1,623	1,080	–	–	–	2,703
Westmount		Con		Con	8,944	67.52%	4,642	35.04%	45.04%	4,302	8,944	–	–	–	13,246
Wolfe		Lib		Lib	1,907	57.06%	472	14.12%	85.04%	1,907	1,435	–	–	–	3,342
Yamaska		Lib		Con	1,909	52.10%	154	4.20%	88.35%	1,755	1,909	–	–	–	3,664

1. including spoilt ballots
2. Camillien Houde stood for reelection in Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and also campaigned in Montreal–Saint-Jacques

  = open seat

  = turnout is above provincial average

  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature

  = incumbent had switched allegiance

  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

  = incumbency arose from byelection gain

  = previously incumbent in another riding

  = other incumbents renominated

  = multiple candidates

Analysis

None of the third parties achieved a 1st- or 2nd-place result.

Resulting composition of the 18th Quebec Legislative Assembly ^[8]

Source		Party
		Lib	Con	Total
Seats retained	Incumbents returned	56	6	62
	Open seats held	12		12
	Byelection loss reversed	1		1
Seats changing hands	Incumbents defeated	4	2	6
	Open seats gained		2	2
	Byelection gain held		1	1
New ridings	Incumbent returned in new seat	2		2
	New MLAs elected	4		4
Total		79	11	90

See also

• List of Quebec premiers
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• List of Quebec political parties
• 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec

Further reading

• The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1932. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1933.

References

1. An Act to amend the Revised Statutes, 1925, respecting the creation of new electoral districts, S.Q. 1930, c. 15.
2. Drouilly, Pierre (November 7, 2017). "Élections québécoises de 1931". donneesquebec.ca. Atlas des élections au Québec.
3. Cdn Ann Rev 1932 1933, p. 169.
4. An Act to amend the Quebec Controverted Elections Act , S.Q. 1931-32, c. 20
5. Cdn Ann Rev 1932 1933, pp. 171–172.
6. An Act to repeal the Act 22 George V, chapter 20, commonly known as the "Dillon Act" , S.Q. 1936 (2nd session), c. 9
7. Morin, Jacques Carl (Winter 2008–2009). "A Note on Simultaneous Candidacies in the Québec Legislature" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review . 31 (4): 20–23.
8. "Les membres de l'Assemblée nationale par circonscription" [National Assembly members by riding] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec . Retrieved September 13, 2023.