1940 Canadian federal election explained

Election Name:1940 Canadian federal election
Country:Canada
Flag Year:1921
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:no
Party Name:no
Previous Election:1935 Canadian federal election
Previous Year:1935
Next Election:1945 Canadian federal election
Next Year:1945
Majority Seats:123
Turnout:69.9%[1] (4.3pp)
Election Date:March 26, 1940
Elected Members:19th Canadian Parliament
Outgoing Members:18th Canadian Parliament
Image1:Wm Lyon Mackenzie King (cropped).jpg
Leader1:W. L. Mackenzie King
Leader Since1:1919
Last Election1:173
Seats1:179
Seat Change1:6
Popular Vote1:2,365,979
Percentage1:51.32%
Swing1:6.64pp
Leader2:Robert Manion
Leader Since2:1938
Leaders Seat2:London
Last Election2:39
Seats2:39
Popular Vote2:1,348,260
Percentage2:29.24%
Swing2:0.60pp
Image4:William Herridge headshot.jpg
Leader4:William D. Herridge
Leader Since4:1939
Party4:2
Leaders Seat4:Ran in Kindersley (lost)
Last Election4:17
Seats4:10
Seat Change4:7
Popular Vote4:119,354
Percentage4:2.59%
Swing4:1.51pp
Image5:Ac.woodsworth.jpg
Leader5:J. S. Woodsworth
Leader Since5:1932
Leaders Seat5:Winnipeg North Centre
Last Election5:7
Seats5:8
Seat Change5:1
Popular Vote5:388,103
Percentage5:8.42%
Swing5:1.07pp
Prime Minister
Posttitle:Prime Minister after election
Before Election:William Lyon Mackenzie King
After Election:William Lyon Mackenzie King
Map2 Image:Chambre des Communes 1940.png
Map2 Size:350px
Map2 Caption:The Canadian parliament after the 1940 election

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.

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

PartyParty leader
  1. of
    candidates
SeatsPopular vote
1935Elected% Change%pp ChangeLiberal242173179+2.3%2,365,97951.32%+6.64National Government 119936rowspan=2 align="right"-1,348,26029.24%+0.57Conservative 1839353,7991.17%Co-operative CommonwealthJ. S. Woodsworth9378+14.3%388,1038.42%align="right"-1.072J.H. Blackmore9177rowspan=2 align="right"-41.17%46,271 1.00%rowspan=2 align="right"-1.51New Democracy2W.D. Herridge17373,0831.59% 443align="right"-25.0%27,8150.60%align="right"-0.07Independent Liberal3212+100%147,2163.19%+1.96Independent1911align="right"-57,2471.24%+0.85Independent Conservative511align="right"-10,431 0.23%+0.21Unity 2112,3370.27%United Reform Movement 1113,8680.30%Independent National2-12,7100.28%Unknown2align="right"-align="right"-align="right"-4,6220.10%+0.02Tim Buck8align="right"-align="right"-align="right"-8,6990.19%align="right"-0.27Farmer-Labour 2-8,1260.18%National Unity 1align="right"-7,5340.16%NDP 3 2-6,7610.15%United Farmers of Ont.-Labour 1align="right"-align="right"-align="right"-4,7610.10%align="right"-0.06 1align="right"--align="right"-3,916 0.08%align="right"-0.25United Progressive 1align="right"-2,7270.06%National Liberal Progressive 1-2,4340.05% 1-2,3540.05%Anti-Conscriptionist 1align="right"-6420.01% 1-3980.01%United Reform 1-2690.01%Social Credit-National Unity 1align="right"-2410.01%
Total657245245align="right"-0.8%4,610,603100%  
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

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.

Results by province

Party nameBCABSKMBONQCNBNSPEYKTotalLiberalSeats:10 <--BC-->7<--Alb-->12 <--Sask-->13<--Man-->56<--Ont-->62<--Que-->5<--NB-->10<--NS-->4 <--PEI-->- <--YK-->179<--Canada/Total-->Popular Vote:37.4<--BC-->37.9<--Alb-->43.0<--Sask-->43.5<--Man-->50.3<--Ont-->64.4<--Que-->54.6<--NB-->50.4<--NS-->55.3<--PEI-->46.4<--YK-->51.3<--Canada/Total--> National GovernmentSeats:4 <--BC-->-<--Alb-->2<--Sask-->1<--Man-->22<--Ont-->- <--Que-->5<--NB-->1<--NS-->- <--PEI-->1<--YK-->36<--Canada/Total-->Vote:28.8<--BC-->13.0<--Alb-->14.1<--Sask-->26.2<--Man-->40.2<--Ont-->18.0<--Que-->43.4<--NB-->40.1<--NS-->44.7<--PEI-->53.6<--YK-->30.0<--Canada/Total-->ConservativeSeats:  <--BC--> <--Alb-->- <--Sask-->- <--Man-->3<--Ont-->- <--Que--> <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->3<--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->0.2<--Sask-->1.7<--Man-->2.2<--Ont-->1.1<--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->1.2<--Canada/Total-->Co-operative CommonwealthSeats:1 <--BC-->- <--Alb-->5 <--Sask-->1<--Man-->-<--Ont-->- <--Que-->-<--NB-->1 <--NS-->  <--PEI-->  <--YK-->8<--Canada/Total-->Vote:28.4<--BC-->13.0<--Alb-->27.5<--Sask-->19.6<--Man-->3.8<--Ont-->0.7<--Que-->0.4<--NB-->6.0<--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->8.6 <--Canada/Total-->Social CreditSeats:  <--BC-->7 <--Alb-->  <--Sask-->- <--Man-->  <--Ont--> <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI-->  <--YK-->7<--Canada/Total-->Vote:  <--BC-->16.5 <--Alb-->  <--Sask-->0.6<--Man-->  <--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI-->  <--YK-->1.0<--Canada/Total-->New DemocracySeats:- <--BC-->3<--Alb-->- <--Sask-->align="right"-   <--Ont-->- <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI-->  <--YK-->3 <--Canada/Total-->Vote:0.1 <--BC-->18.0 <--Alb-->3.3 <--Sask-->0.4<--Man-->  <--Ont-->0.9 <--Que--> <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI-->  <--YK-->1.6<--Canada/Total-->Liberal-ProgressiveSeats:  <--BC-->  <--Alb-->  <--Sask-->2 <--Man-->1<--Ont-->  <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->3<--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask-->4.7<--Man-->0.8<--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.6<--Canada/Total-->Independent LiberalSeats:- <--BC-->  <--Alb-->  <--Sask-->  <--Man-->- <--Ont-->2<--Que-->- <--NB-->- <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->2<--Canada/Total-->Vote:xx<--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man-->1.0<--Ont-->10.2<--Que-->1.6<--NB-->3.3<--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->3.3<--Canada/Total-->IndependentSeats:1 <--BC-->align="right"- align="right"- align="right"- align="right"- align="right"-   <--NB-->align="right"-  <--PEI--> <--YK-->1<--Canada/Total-->Vote:3.0<--BC-->0.2<--Alb-->1.0<--Sask-->3.4<--Man-->0.4<--Ont-->2.1<--Que--> <--NB-->0.2<--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->1.3<--Canada/Total-->United Reform MovementSeats:  <--BC-->  <--Alb-->1 <--Sask-->  <--Man--> <--Ont-->  <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->1<--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->3.7<--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont--> <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.3<--Canada/Total-->UnitySeats:  <--BC-->  <--Alb-->1 <--Sask-->  <--Man--> <--Ont-->  <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->1<--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->3.3<--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.3<--Canada/Total-->Independent ConservativeSeats:  <--BC-->  <--Alb-->  <--Sask-->  <--Man--> <--Ont-->1 <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->1<--Canada/Total-->Vote:  <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont-->0.9<--Que--> <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.2<--Canada/Total-->
Total Seats16 <--BC-->17 <--Alb-->21 <--Sask-->17 <--Man-->82<--Ont-->65 <--Que-->10 <--NB-->12 <--NS-->4<--PEI-->1<--YK-->245<--Canada/Total-->
Parties that won no seats:
Independent Nat. Gov.Vote:0.1<--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont-->1.1<--Que-->  <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.3<--Canada/Total-->Vote:0.4<--BC-->0.3<--Alb-->0.6<--Sask-->xx<--Man-->0.2<--Ont-->0.1<--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.2<--Canada/Total-->Farmer-LabourVote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man-->0.5<--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.2 <--Canada/Total-->National UnityVote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->2.0<--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont--> <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.2 <--Canada/Total-->NDP (?)Vote:1.6<--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask-->  <--Man-->xx<--Ont--> <--Que-->  <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.2 <--Canada/Total-->UFO-LabourVote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man-->0.3<--Ont--> <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.1 <--Canada/Total-->UnknownVote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->1.2 <--Sask--> <--Man-->xx<--Ont--> <--Que-->  <--NB-->  <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.1 <--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont-->0.3<--Que--> <--NB--><--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.1<--Canada/Total-->United ProgressiveVote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->1.0<--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.1<--Canada/Total-->National Liberal ProgressiveVote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man-->0.2<--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.1<--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont-->0.2 <--Que-->  <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->0.1<--Canada/Total-->Anti-ConscriptionistVote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont-->0.1<--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->xx<--Canada/Total-->Vote: <--BC--> <--Alb--> <--Sask--> <--Man-->xx<--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB--> <--NS--> <--PEI--> <--YK-->xx<--Canada/Total-->United ReformVote: <--BC--> <--Alb-->0.1<--Sask--> <--Man--> <--Ont--> <--Que--> <--NB-->  <--NS-->  <--PEI--> <--YK-->xx<--Canada/Total-->

See also

Notes and References

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

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