1891 Canadian federal election

The 1891 Canadian federal election was held on March 5, 1891, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.

A Conservative election poster from 1891.

1891 Canadian federal election
March 5, 1891
215 seats in the House of Commons
108 seats needed for a majority
Turnout64.4%[1] (Decrease5.7pp)
  First party Second party
 
Leader John A. Macdonald Wilfrid Laurier
Party Conservative Liberal
Leader since 1867 1887
Leader's seat Kingston Quebec East[lower-alpha 1]
Last election 122 seats, 47.4% 80 seats, 43.1%
Seats won 117 90
Seat change Decrease5 Increase10
Popular vote 376,518 350,512
Percentage 48.6%[lower-alpha 2] 45.2%
Swing Increase1.2% Increase2.1%
1891 Canadian electoral map
The Canadian parliament after the 1891 election
Prime Minister before election

John A. Macdonald
Conservative

 Prime Minister after election

John A. Macdonald
Conservative

The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy, a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported reciprocity (free trade) with the United States.

Macdonald led a Conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons. It was a close election and he campaigned hard. Macdonald died a few months after the election, which led to his succession by four different Conservative Prime Ministers until the 1896 election.

It was Wilfrid Laurier's first election as leader of the Liberals. Although he lost the election, he increased the Liberals' support. He returned in 1896 to win a solid majority, despite losing the popular vote.

Canadian voters would return to the issue of free trade 20 years later in the 1911 federal election.

National results
Party Party leader # of
candidates		 Seats Popular vote
1887 Elected Change # % Change
  Conservative John A. Macdonald 187 87 97 +11.5% 332,961 42.96% +2.80pp
  Liberal-Conservative 25 24 20 -16.7% 43,557 5.62% -1.64pp
  Liberal Wilfrid Laurier 194 79 90 +13.9% 350,512 45.22% +2.09pp
  Independent Conservative 4 3 3 - 15,045 1.94% +0.38pp
  Independent 4 3 2 -66.7% 6,357 0.82% -0.42pp
  Nationalist 1 1 1 - -1 0.00% -0.66pp
  Independent Liberal 2 5 1 -80% 5,573 0.72% -1.45pp
  Nationalist Conservative 1 2 1 -50% 1,271 0.16% -0.32pp
  Unknown 14 1 - -100% 16,890 2.18% -1.15pp
  Equal Rights 2 * - * 2,455 0.32% *
  Progressive2 2 * - * 468 0.06% *
Total 436 205 215 +4.9% 775,089 100%  
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

1 One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.

2 The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being "Progressives". This may be an error.

Acclamations:

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

  • British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
  • Manitoba: 1 Conservative
  • Ontario: 1 Conservative
  • Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Nationalist

Results by province
Party name BC NT MB ON QC NB NS PE Total
  Conservative Seats: 5 4 1 39 24 10 12 2 97
  Popular vote (%): 71.6 81.0 12.6 42.2 45.4 48.9 41.9 48.5 43.0
  Liberal-Conservative Seats: 1   3 7 3 2 4   20
  Vote (%):     40.5 5.3 3.0 3.7 10.8   5.6
  Liberal Seats: - - 1 44 33 4 5 3 90
  Vote (%): 28.4 19.0 46.9 49.1 45.9 41.3 43.6 41.0 45.2
  Independent Conservative Seats:       1 2       3
  Vote (%):       1.3 5.9       1.9
  Independent Seats:       1 1 -     2
  Vote (%):       0.7 1.2 3.2     0.8
  Nationalist Seats:         1       1
  Vote (%):         -       -
  Independent Liberal Seats:           -   1 1
  Vote (%):           2.9   10.5 0.7
  Nationalist Conservative Seats:         1       1
  Vote (%):         0.7       0.2
Total seats 6 4 5 92 65 16 21 6 215
Parties that won no seats:
  Unknown Vote (%):       2.0 3.8   3.1   2.2
  Equal Rights Vote (%):       0.7         0.3
  Progressive Vote (%):             0.5   0.1

See also

Notes
  1. Laurier also ran in Richmond—Wolfe, where he was defeated.
  2. Popular vote is combination of Conservative and Liberal-Conservative tallies.

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

Further reading
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