1940 Canadian federal election

Last updated

1940 Canadian federal election
Canadian Red Ensign (1921-1957).svg
  1935 March 26, 1940 1945  

245 seats in the House of Commons
123 seats needed for a majority
Turnout69.9% [1] (Decrease2.svg4.3pp)
 First partySecond party
  Wm Lyon Mackenzie King (cropped).jpg Robert Manion (cropped).jpg
Leader W. L. Mackenzie King Robert Manion
Party Liberal National Government
Leader since 1919 1938
Leader's seat Prince Albert London
candidate in Fort William (lost)
Last election17339
Seats won17939
Seat changeIncrease2.svg6Steady2.svg
Popular vote2,365,9791,348,260
Percentage51.32%29.24%
SwingIncrease2.svg6.64pp Decrease2.svg0.60pp

 Third partyFourth party
  Photograph of William Duncan Herridge (d. 1961) (10613346053) (cropped).jpg Ac.woodsworth.jpg
Leader William D. Herridge J. S. Woodsworth
Party New Democracy 2 Co-operative Commonwealth
Leader since19391932
Leader's seatRan in Kindersley (lost) Winnipeg North Centre
Last election177
Seats won108
Seat changeDecrease2.svg7Increase2.svg1
Popular vote119,354388,103
Percentage2.59%8.42%
SwingDecrease2.svg1.51pp Decrease2.svg1.07pp

Canada 1940 Federal Election.svg

Chambre des Communes 1940.png
The Canadian parliament after the 1940 election

Prime Minister before election

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Liberal

Prime Minister after election

William Lyon Mackenzie King
Liberal

The 1940 Canadian federal election was held March 26, 1940, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 19th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party was re-elected to their second consecutive majority government.

Contents

The election was overshadowed by the Second World War, which caused many Canadians to rally around the government. In response to this, the Conservative Party of Robert Manion ran on a platform advocating the creation of an all-party national unity government and ran under the name "National Government" in this election. Though Manion was personally opposed to conscription, the Liberals faced intense pressure in Quebec on the question and promised not to institute the measure. This promise was to haunt the Liberals as they faced increasing pressure from the military and especially from English Canada to bring in the measure. To release him from his September 1939 promise, King called a plebiscite in 1942 on the question. See also Conscription Crisis of 1944. It was the most successful election for the Liberal Party in its history, in which it captured 73% of the seats in the House of Commons. By contrast, the Conservatives performed even worse than in the previous election, finishing with the same number of seats, a slightly lower share of the popular vote, and with Manion being defeated in his riding. This was the last election contested by the original incarnation of the Conservatives, who thereafter merged with remnants of the moribund Progressive Party to form the Progressive Conservatives.

Social Credit ran jointly with the New Democracy movement of William Duncan Herridge.

Some candidates of the Conservative and Social Credit parties insisted on running under the traditional names, however.

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) gained its first seat east of Manitoba, with the election of Clarence Gillis from Cape Breton Island. This election was the last one for its ailing leader, J. S. Woodsworth.

National results

1940 Canadian parliament.svg
PartyParty leader# of
candidates
SeatsPopular vote
1935 Elected% Change#% pp Change
  Liberal W. L. Mackenzie King 242173179+2.3%2,365,97951.32%+6.64
  National Government 1 Robert Manion 199*36-1,348,26029.24%+0.57
  Conservative 1839353,7991.17%
  Co-operative Commonwealth J. S. Woodsworth 9378+14.3%388,1038.42%-1.07
Social Credit 2 J.H. Blackmore 9177-41.17%46,2711.00%-1.51
  New Democracy 2 W.D. Herridge 17*373,0831.59%
Liberal–Progressive  443-25.0%27,8150.60%-0.07
 Independent Liberal 3212+100%147,2163.19%+1.96
 Independent1911-57,2471.24%+0.85
 Independent Conservative 511-10,4310.23%+0.21
  Unity  2*1*12,3370.27%*
  United Reform Movement  1*1*13,8680.30%*
 Independent National 2*-*12,7100.28%*
 Unknown2---4,6220.10%+0.02
Communist Tim Buck 8---8,6990.19%-0.27
  Farmer-Labour  2*-*8,1260.18%*
 National Unity 1*-*7,5340.16%*
 NDP 3 2*-*6,7610.15%*
  United Farmers of Ont.-Labour  1---4,7610.10%-0.06
Labour  1---3,9160.08%-0.25
  United Progressive  1*-*2,7270.06%*
  National Liberal Progressive  1*-*2,4340.05%*
National Labour 1*-*2,3540.05%*
  Anti-Conscriptionist  1*-*6420.01%*
Canadian Labour 1*-*3980.01%*
  United Reform  1*-*2690.01%*
 Social Credit-National Unity 1*-*2410.01%*
Total657245245-0.8%4,610,603100% 
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine

Notes:

* The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

1 "Change" and "% Change% figures compare total of "National Government" and "Conservative" to 1935 Conservative vote.

2 New Democracy and Social Credit ran jointly under the New Democracy banner under the leadership of former Conservative William Duncan Herridge who had founded New Democracy in 1939 to promote his ideas monetary and economic reform, though several candidates continued to run under the old Social Credit name. The 3 New Democracy MPs elected were all Social Credit incumbents, including Social Credit parliamentary leader John Horne Blackmore while Herridge himself failed to win his seat. The party sat in the House of Commons under the New Democracy name until 1944 when its national convention voted to revert to the Social Credit name.

3Two candidates appear to have run under the "New Democratic Party" banner. It is unlikely that this was related in any way to the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation's adoption of this name in 1960. This may be a mis-reporting of party label - these candidates may have been "New Democracy" candidates.

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote
Liberal
51.32%
National Government
29.24%
CCF
8.42%
New Democracy
2.59%
Others
8.43%
Seat totals
Liberal
73.06%
National Government
15.91%
New Democracy
4.08%
CCF
3.26%
Liberal-Progressive
1.22%
Others
2.44%

Results by province

Party name BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE YK Total
  Liberal Seats:107121356625104-179
 Popular Vote:37.437.943.043.550.364.454.650.455.346.451.3
  National Government Seats:4-2122-51-136
 Vote:28.813.014.126.240.218.043.440.144.753.630.0
  Conservative Seats:  --3-    3
 Vote:  0.21.72.21.1    1.2
  Co-operative Commonwealth Seats:1-51---1  8
 Vote:28.413.027.519.63.80.70.46.0  8.6
  Social Credit Seats: 7 -      7
 Vote: 16.5 0.6      1.0
  New Democracy Seats:-3-- -    3
 Vote:0.118.03.30.4 0.9    1.6
  Liberal-Progressive Seats:   21     3
 Vote:   4.70.8     0.6
 Independent LiberalSeats:-   -2--  2
 Vote:xx   1.010.21.63.3  3.3
 IndependentSeats:1----- -  1
 Vote:3.00.21.03.40.42.1 0.2  1.3
  United Reform Movement Seats:  1       1
 Vote:  3.7       0.3
  Unity Seats:  1       1
 Vote:  3.3       0.3
 Independent ConservativeSeats:     1    1
 Vote:     0.9    0.2
Total Seats161721178265101241245
Parties that won no seats:
 Independent Nat. Gov.Vote:0.1    1.1    0.3
Communist Vote:0.40.30.6xx0.20.1    0.2
 Farmer-Labour Vote:    0.5     0.2
 National UnityVote:  2.0       0.2
 NDP (?)Vote:1.6   xx     0.2
  UFO-Labour Vote:    0.3     0.1
 UnknownVote:  1.2 xx     0.1
Labour Vote:     0.3   0.1
  United Progressive Vote:  1.0       0.1
  National Liberal Progressive Vote:    0.2     0.1
National LabourVote:     0.2    0.1
  Anti-Conscriptionist Vote:     0.1    xx
Canadian LabourVote:    xx     xx
  United Reform Vote:  0.1       xx

See also

Related Research Articles

BC United (BCU), formerly known as the British Columbia Liberal Party, is a provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party has been described as conservative, neoliberal, and being on the centre-right of the left–right political spectrum. The party commonly describes itself as a "free enterprise coalition" and draws support from members of both the federal Liberal and Conservative parties. Since the 1990s, BC United has been the main centre-right opposition to the centre-left New Democratic Party (NDP). Once affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada, the British Columbia Liberal Party became independent in 1987. The party changed its name to BC United on April 12, 2023.

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.

The Canadian social credit movement is a political movement originally based on the Social Credit theory of Major C. H. Douglas. Its supporters were colloquially known as Socreds in English and créditistes in French. It gained popularity and its own political party in the 1930s, as a result of the Great Depression.

<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">1972 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1972 Canadian federal election was held on October 30, 1972, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive Conservatives led by Robert Stanfield. Trudeau's Liberals experienced a decline in support as a result of rising unemployment.

<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">Social Credit Party of Canada</span> Political party in Canada

The Social Credit Party of Canada, colloquially known as the Socreds, was a populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform. It was the federal wing of the Canadian social credit movement.

New Democracy was a political party in Canada founded by William Duncan Herridge in 1939. Herridge, a former Conservative party adviser who was Canada's Envoy to the United States from 1931–35 during the government of R. B. Bennett.

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

Robert James Manion was a Canadian politician who led the Conservative Party of Canada from 1938 to 1940. Prior to his leadership of the party, he served in Prime Minister Arthur Meighen and R.B. Bennett's cabinets.

Historically in Quebec, Canada, there were a number of political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the social credit philosophy; at various times they had varying degrees of affiliation with the Social Credit Party of Canada at the federal level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1945 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1945 Canadian federal election was held on June 11, 1945, to elect members of the House of Commons of the 20th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal government was re-elected to its third consecutive term, although this time with a minority government as the Liberals fell five seats short of a majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Duncan Herridge</span> Canadian politician

William Duncan Herridge was a Canadian politician and diplomat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1958 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1958 Canadian federal election was held to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 24th Parliament of Canada on March 31, 1958, just nine months after the 23rd election. It transformed Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's minority into the largest majority government in Canadian history and the second largest percentage of the popular vote. Although the Tories would surpass their 1958 seat total in the 1984 election, the 1958 result remains unmatched both in terms of percentage of seats (78.5%) and the size of the Government majority over all opposition parties. Voter turnout was 79.4%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1965 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1965 Canadian federal election was held on November 8, 1965 to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House. Although the Liberals lost a small share of the popular vote, they were able to win more seats, falling just short of a majority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1935 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1935 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 1935, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R. B. Bennett's Conservatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1917 Canadian federal election</span>

The 1917 Canadian federal election was held on December 17, 1917, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 13th Parliament of Canada. Described by historian Michael Bliss as the "most bitter election in Canadian history", it was fought mainly over the issue of conscription. The election resulted in Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden's Unionist government elected with a strong majority and the largest percentage of the popular vote for any party in Canadian history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calgary (provincial electoral district)</span> Defunct provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada

Calgary was a provincial electoral district in Alberta, Canada, mandated to return one to six members to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1905 to 1913, and again from 1921 to 1959. The district largely encompassed the boundaries of the City of Calgary, and was revised accordingly as the city grew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Nationale (Quebec)</span> Former political party in Quebec, Canada

The Union nationale was a conservative and nationalist provincial political party in Quebec, Canada, that identified with Québécois autonomism. It was created during the Great Depression and held power in Quebec from 1936 to 1939, and from 1944 to 1960 and from 1966 to 1970. The party was founded by Maurice Duplessis, who led it until his death in 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1938 National Conservative leadership convention</span>

A National Conservative leadership convention began on July 5, 1938, culminating in a leadership ballot on July 7. The Conservative Party of Canada chose Robert James Manion to succeed former Prime Minister R. B. Bennett as party leader.

References

  1. "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved March 10, 2019.