1940 Alberta general election explained

Election Name:1940 Alberta general election
Country:Alberta
Flag Year:1921
Type:legislative
Party Colour:no
Party Name:no
Previous Election:1935 Alberta general election
Previous Year:1935
Previous Mps:8th Alberta Legislative Assembly
Elected Mps:members
Next Election:1944 Alberta general election
Next Year:1944
Next Mps:10th Alberta Legislative Assembly
Seats For Election:57 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
29 seats were needed for a majority
Leader1:William Aberhart
Leader Since1:September 3, 1935
Leaders Seat1:Calgary
Last Election1:56 seats, 54.2%
Seats Before1:47
Seats1:36
Seat Change1:11
Popular Vote1:132,507
Percentage1:42.9%
Swing1:11.3%
Leader2:Andrew Davison
Leader Since2:1940
Leaders Seat2:Calgary
Last Election2:pre-creation
Seats Before2:—
Seats2:19
Seat Change2:—
Popular Vote2:131,172
Percentage2:42.5%
Swing2:—
Image4: LAB
Leader4:unknown
Leader Since4:—
Leaders Seat4:—
Last Election4:0 seats, 1.7%
Seats Before4:0
Seats4:1
Seat Change4:1
Popular Vote4:3,258
Percentage4:1.1%
Swing4:0.6%
Image5: LIB
Leader5:Edward L. Gray
Leader Since5:June 4, 1937
Leaders Seat5:ran in Edmonton presumably
Last Election5:5 seats, 23.1%
Seats Before5:6
Seats5:1
Seat Change5:5
Popular Vote5:2,755
Percentage5:0.9%
Swing5:22.2%
Premier
Posttitle:Premier after election
Before Election:William Aberhart
After Election:William Aberhart

The 1940 Alberta general election was held on March 21, 1940, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Despite its failure to implement its key policy, providing prosperity certificates to all Albertans, the Social Credit Party of Premier William Aberhart won a second term in government. Nevertheless, it lost eleven seats that it had won in the 1935 landslide.

This provincial election, like the previous three, saw district-level proportional representation (Single transferable voting) used to elect the MLAs of Edmonton and Calgary. City-wide districts were used to elect multiple MLAs in the cities. All the other MLAs were elected in single-member districts through Instant-runoff voting.

Unity Movement

The Conservative and Liberal parties as well as the remains of the United Farmers, recognizing the widespread popularity of the Social Credit party, ran joint candidates as independents in what was called the "Independent Movement" or the "Unity Movement". Although independent candidates won almost as many votes as Social Credit, their support was dispersed across many areas so few of the movement's candidates took a majority of the votes (required under Instant-runoff voting to take the seat) so the movement's overall vote tally did not translate into its due share of seats overall. The Independent Movement lost a number of races by small margins. However, due to the Parliamentary system, which awards power solely on the basis of seats won, Social Credit was returned for a second term, albeit with a considerably reduced majority.

The Liberals under leader Edward Gray chose only to support Independent candidates that they played a hand in nominating, and nominated other candidates under its own banner. Gray felt that candidates should not be machined into the field and left it up to the individual Liberal constituency associations to decide if they would support a candidate or not.[1]

This would be the most opposition that Social Credit would face until 1959.

Co-operative Commonwealth

The social democratic Cooperative Commonwealth Federation nominated candidates for the first time, but failed to win any seats in the legislature, despite winning over 10% of the popular vote under the leadership of former United Farmers of Alberta MLA Chester Ronning. Like Ronning, most of the CCF's candidates had run in the 1935 election for the UFA.

Reduction of electoral districts

An Act was passed in 1939 that provided for the reduction of the number of MLAs from 63 to 57, upon the next election.[2] Calgary and Edmonton now returned five MLAs each instead of six, and the following other changes were made:

Abolished New
New districts
Renaming of districts
Abolition of districts
Merger of districts
Reorganization of districts

Results

Elections to the 9th Alberta Legislative Assembly (1940)
PartyLeaderCandidatesFirst-preference votesSeats
Votes±% Change (pp)19351940±William Aberhart56 132,507 31,193 42.905620[6] Andrew Davison57 130,603 11,178 42.28613Edward Gray2 2,755 483 0.8912 3,258 1,828 1.05–1Chester Ronning36 34,316 34,316 11.111 1,136 181 0.371 1,067 4,704 0.35[7] 2 569 2,171 0.181 251 27 0.084 1,726 1,726 0.561 362 362 0.122 314 314 0.10
Total 165308,864100.00%
Rejected ballots10,615 2,346
Turnout319,479 9,45874.8% 7.0
Registered voters427,335 49,086

MLAs elected

Synopsis of results

Results by riding1940 Alberta general election (all except Calgary and Edmonton)[8]
RidingFirst-preference votesTurnout
[9] 		Final countsWinning party
NameSCCCFTotalSCCCF19351940
 
Acadia-Coronation2,163 1,665 559 – – – 4,38776.3%2,297 1,963 – – –NewSC
Alexandra2,215 1,255 1,273 – – – 73.1%2,326 – 1,953 – –SCSC
Athabasca1,965 1,336 782 – – – 4,08361.9%2,078 1,497 – – –SCSC
Banff-Cochrane1,869 2,931 – – – – 4,80080.4%Elected on 1st countNewIndM
Beaver River2,555 – 669 – – 1,254 4,47870.4%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Bow Valley-Empress2,035 1,762 – – – – 3,79770.5%Elected on 1st countNewSC
Bruce2,018 1,433 752 – – – 4,20371.8%2,203 1,781 – – –NewSC
Camrose2,472 1,484 1,550 – – – 5,50677.2%2,582 – 2,508 – –SCSC
Cardston2,160 1,808 – – – – 3,96881.9%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Clover Bar2,252 1,370 1,476 – – – 5,09877.9%2,418 – 2,261 – –SCSC
Cypress1,667 2,065 – – – – 3,73275.3%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Didsbury2,312 2,379 – – – – 74.5%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Drumheller2,043 1,530 741 – – – 4,31479.8%2,330 1,720 – – –SCSC
Edson1,949 – 798 – 2,211 – 4,95872.7%2,100 – – – 2,558SCLab
Gleichen1,457 2,255 670 – – – 4,38275.2%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Grande Prairie1,556 1,998 674 – – – 4,22870.4%1,784 2,233 – – –SCIndM
Grouard1,703 – 1,024 1,747 – – 4,47462.0%1,961 – – 1,965 –LibLib
Hand Hills2,547 1,970 – – – – 4,51775.5%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Lac Ste. Anne1,612 1,239 1,110 – – – 3,96163.9%1,839 1,704 – – –SCSC
Lacombe2,321 2,061 626 – – – 5,00875.6%2,457 2,361 – – –SCSC
Leduc2,141 1,106 732 – – – 3,97965.9%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Lethbridge2,760 4,318 – – – – 7,07883.4%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Little Bow2,162 2,034 – – – – 4,19686.0%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Macleod2,487 2,446 – – – – 4,93382.3%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Medicine Hat2,943 2,863 – – – – 5,80686.1%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Okotoks-High River3,178 4,352 – – – – 7,53080.5%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Olds2,345 2,455 – – – 362 5,16276.4%2,549 2,483 – – –SCSC
Peace River2,114 2,253 – – – – 4,36760.0%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Pembina1,589 1,719 743 – – – 4,05160.0%1,818 1,980 – – –SCIndM
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest2,356 2,129 – – 1,047 – 5,53286.1%2,443 2,210 – – –NewSC
Ponoka1,907 1,920 575 – – – 4,40274.7%2,045 2,234 – – –SCIndM
Red Deer2,083 2,760 – – – 971 5,81477.7%2,330 3,142 – – –SCIndM
Redwater2,226 945 785 – – – 3,95664.9%Elected on 1st countNewSC
Rocky Mountain House2,477 1,496 767 – – – 4,74069.4%Elected on 1st countSCSC
St. Albert1,692 1,383 552 1,008 – – 4,63570.9%2,018 2,304 – – –SCIndM
St. Paul2,270 1,609 813 – – – 4,69270.2%2,421 1,785 – – –SCSC
Sedgewick2,605 1,426 794 – – – 4,82575.7%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Spirit River1,409 1,087 772 – – – 3,26863.3%1,707 1,295 – – –NewSC
Stettler2,668 1,851 784 – – – 5,30378.5%Elected on 1st countSCSC
Stony Plain1,914 1,228 942 – – 196 4,28072.6%2,213 1,606 – – –SCSC
Taber1,879 1,383 576 – – – 3,83880.0%1,998 1,618 – – –SCSC
Vegreville2,223 1,920 523 – – – 4,66675.6%2,375 2,061 – – –SCSC
Vermilion2,203 1,815 936 – – – 4,95476.4%2,506 2,148 – – –SCSC
Wainwright2,296 1,611 1,039 – – 365 5,31176.4%2,583 2,169 – – –SCSC
Warner1,558 1,937 – – – – 3,49583.0%Elected on 1st countSCIndM
Wetaskiwin2,480 1,874 901 – – – 5,25571.9%2,761 2,179 – – –SCSC
Willingdon2,329 514 968 – – – 3,81164.4%Elected on 1st countNewSC

= Open seat

= turnout is above provincial average

= Candidate was in previous Legislature

= Incumbent had switched allegiance

= Previously incumbent in another riding

= Not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

= Incumbency arose from by-election gain

= previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

= Multiple candidates

Multi-member districts

DistrictSeats won
(in order declared)
Calgarywidth=20  width=20  width=20  width=20  width=20  
Edmonton     
width=20  Social Credit
 Independent Movement

= Candidate was in previous Legislature

= First-time MLA

= Previously incumbent in another district.

STV analysis

Exhausted votes

Twenty-eight districts went beyond first-preference counts in order to determine winning candidates:

Exhausted votes (1935)
DistrictCountsExhausted
1st preferenceFinalVotes% of 1st pref
Calgary45,914 44,830 1,084
Edmonton43,743 41,130 2,613
Acadia-Coronation4,387 4,260 127
Alexandra4,743 4,279 464
Athabasca4,083 3,575 508
Bruce4,203 3,984 219
Camrose5,506 5,090 416
Clover Bar5,098 4,679 419
Drumheller4,314 4,050 264
Edson4,958 4,658 300
Grande Prairie4,228 4,017 211
Grouard4,474 3,926 548
Lac Ste. Anne3,961 3,543 418
Lacombe5,008 4,818 190
Olds5,162 5,032 130
Pembina4,051 3,798 253
Pincher Creek-Crowsnest5,532 4,653 879
Ponoka4,402 4,279 123
Red Deer5,814 5,472 342
St. Albert4,635 4,322 313
St. Paul4,692 4,206 486
Spirit River3,268 3,002 266
Stony Plain4,280 3,819 461
Taber3,838 3,616 222
Vegreville4,666 4,436 230
Vermilion4,954 4,654 300
Wainwright5,311 4,752 559
Wetaskiwin5,255 4,940 315

Calgary

The Independent Movement (also called the "Citizens' Slate) fielded six candidates for the five seats. The other parties nominated fewer candidates than the maximum seats sought.

PartyCandidatesMLAs elected
19401935±19401935±6 – 6 3 – 34 6 2 2 4 22 – 2 – – –1 1 – – –1 1 – – –– 4 4 – 1 1– 4 4 – 1 1– 3 3 – – –– 1 1 – – –
Total14 20 6 5 6 1

Edmonton

The Independent Movement presented seven candidates for the five seats being contested.

PartyCandidatesMLAs elected
19401935±19401935±7 – 7 3 – 35 6 1 2 2 3 – 3 – – –2 – 2 – – –1 – 1 – – –1 1 – – –– 6 6 – 1 1– 6 6 – 3 3– 1 1 – – –– 6 6 – – –– 1 1 – – –
Total19 27 8 5 6 1

Further reading

Party platforms

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Liberals Against Independents If "Machined into Field" - Gray. The Lethbridge Herald. 7. XXXIII No 36. January 23, 1940.
  2. The Legislative Assembly Act Amendment Act, 1939. S.A.. 1939. 94. https://www.canlii.org/en/ab/laws/astat/sa-1939-c-94/latest/sa-1939-c-94.html.
  3. from parts of Vegreville, Sedgewick and Camrose
  4. from part of Grande Prairie
  5. also drawing in parts of Edson, Red Deer and Lacombe
  6. compared against combined 1935 totals for UFA, Conservatives and Liberals (other than Grouard)
  7. 1 in Calgary; 1 in Edmonton
  8. Book: . A Century of Democracy: Elections of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, 1905-2005. Edmonton. . 134-146. 0-9689217-9-5.
  9. including spoilt ballots

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