1891 Canadian federal election explained

Election Name:	1891 Canadian federal election
Country:	Canada
Flag Year:	1868
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Party Colour:	no
Party Name:	no
Previous Election:	1887 Canadian federal election
Previous Year:	1887
Next Election:	1896 Canadian federal election
Next Year:	1896
Majority Seats:	108
Turnout:	64.4%^[1] (5.7pp)
Election Date:	March 5, 1891
Elected Members:	7th Canadian Parliament
Outgoing Members:	6th Canadian Parliament
Leader1:	John A. Macdonald
Leader Since1:	1867
Leaders Seat1:	Kingston
Last Election1:	122 seats, 47.4%
Seats1:	117
Seat Change1:	5
Popular Vote1:	376,518
Percentage1:	48.6%
Swing1:	1.2%
Leader2:	Wilfrid Laurier
Leader Since2:	1887
Leaders Seat2:	Quebec East
Last Election2:	80 seats, 43.1%
Seats2:	90
Seat Change2:	10
Popular Vote2:	350,512
Percentage2:	45.2%
Swing2:	2.1%
Prime Minister
Posttitle:	Prime Minister after election
Before Election:	John A. Macdonald
After Election:	John A. Macdonald
Map Size:	380px
Map2 Image:	Chambre des Communes 1891.png
Map2 Size:	380px
Map2 Caption:	The Canadian parliament after the 1891 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.

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		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%		Progressive^2		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

See main article: Results of the 1891 Canadian federal election.

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

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• List of political parties in Canada
• 7th Canadian Parliament

Further reading

• Book: Pennington . Christopher John . The Destiny of Canada: Macdonald, Laurier, and the Election of 1891 . 2011 . Allen Lane Canada . Toronto . 978-0-670-06621-6 . registration.

External links

• The Election of 1891: A Question of Loyalty, by James Marsh

Notes and References

1. Web site: Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums. Elections Canada. 10 March 2019.