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.

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

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.

The Nationalist Party won a seat in Quebec. Dorchester riding elected Cyrille-Émile Vaillancourt.

National results

PartyParty leader# of candidatesSeatsPopular vote1887ElectedChange#%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 19479 90 +13.9% 350,512 45.22% +2.09ppIndependent Conservative 4 3 3 - 15,045 1.94% +0.38ppIndependent 4 3 2 -66.7% 6,357 0.82% -0.42pp Nationalist 1 1 1 - -1 0.00% -0.66ppIndependent Liberal 2 5 1 -80% 5,573 0.72% -1.45pp Nationalist Conservative 1 2 1 -50% 1,271 0.16% -0.32ppUnknown 14 1 - -100% 16,890 2.18% -1.15pp Equal Rights 2 * - * 2,455 0.32% * Progressive 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.

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 nameBCNWTMBONQCNBNSPETotal

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 43.0Liberal-Conservative Seats: 1 3 7 3 2 4 20 Vote (%): 40.5 5.3 3.0 3.7 10.8 5.6Liberal 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 45.2Independent 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 2.2Equal Rights Vote (%): 0.7 0.3 Progressive Vote (%): 0.5 0.1

1891 Canadian federal election

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