1926 Canadian federal election explained

Election Name:	1926 Canadian federal election
Country:	Canada
Flag Year:	1921
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Party Colour:	no
Party Name:	no
Previous Election:	1925 Canadian federal election
Previous Year:	1925
Next Election:	1930 Canadian federal election
Next Year:	1930
Majority Seats:	123
Turnout:	67.7%^[1] (1.3pp)
Election Date:	September 14, 1926
Elected Members:	16th Canadian Parliament
Outgoing Members:	15th Canadian Parliament
Image1:	File:King1919HeadShot (cropped).jpg
Leader1:	W. L. Mackenzie King
Leader Since1:	1919
Leaders Seat1:	Prince Albert
Last Election1:	100
Seats1:	116
Seat Change1:	16
Popular Vote1:	1,397,031
Percentage1:	42.90%
Swing1:	3.06pp
Leader2:	Arthur Meighen
Leader Since2:	1920
Leaders Seat2:	Portage la Prairie (lost re-election)
Last Election2:	115
Seats2:	91
Seat Change2:	24
Popular Vote2:	1,476,834
Percentage2:	45.35%
Swing2:	0.78pp
Last Election4:	22
Seats4:	11
Seat Change4:	11
Popular Vote4:	128,060
Percentage4:	3.93%
Swing4:	4.52pp
Image5:	JohnEBrownlee (cropped).jpg
Leader5:	John E. Brownlee
Leaders Seat5:	Did not run^[2]
Last Election5:	2
Seats5:	11
Seat Change5:	9
Popular Vote5:	60,740
Percentage5:	1.87%
Swing5:	1.61pp
Map Size:	350px
Prime Minister
Posttitle:	Prime Minister after election
Before Election:	Arthur Meighen
After Election:	William Lyon Mackenzie King
Map2 Image:	Chambre des Communes 1926.png
Map2 Size:	350px
Map2 Caption:	The Canadian parliament after the 1926 election

The 1926 Canadian federal election was held on September 14, 1926, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 16th Parliament of Canada.^[3] The election was called after an event known as the King–Byng affair.

In the 1925 federal election, Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's Liberal Party of Canada had won fewer seats in the House of Commons of Canada than the Conservatives of Arthur Meighen. King, however, was determined to continue to govern with the support of the Progressive Party. The combined Liberal and Progressive caucuses gave Mackenzie King a plurality of seats in the House of Commons, and the ability to form a minority government.The agreement collapsed, however, after a scandal, and King approached the governor-general of Canada, Baron Byng of Vimy, to seek dissolution of the Parliament. Byng refused on the basis that the Conservatives had won the most seats in the prior election and so he called upon Meighen to form a government.

Prime Minister Meighen's government was soon defeated in a vote of non-confidence, and Byng agreed to Meighen's request to dissolve Parliament and call new elections. King effectively campaigned against Byng, instead of against Meighen, in the election and won the most seats in the House of Commons although his party won a smaller proportion of the popular vote than the Conservatives. However, this was largely because the Liberals did not run candidates in all ridings and had an informal electoral pact with the Progressives and Liberal-Progressives. In particular, the election results in Manitoba had Meighen's party capture almost 40 percent of the vote, twice the vote share of any other party, but no seats. Thus, King's Liberals were able to govern with the support of Liberal-Progressive Members of Parliament.

The Progressive Party's Albertan legislators left the party and instead sought re-election under the United Farmers of Alberta banner. At the time, the UFA formed the government in Alberta. They won eleven seats in Alberta, an increase of nine from the previous year and the same number the Progressives won elsewhere. The Progressives' seat count was halved compared to 1925, although when viewed in its totality the election result can also be regarded as a combined net decrease of two seats for the Progressives and UFA.

Byng returned to Britain at the end of the year and was raised to the rank of viscount as an expression of confidence in him. After his party's defeat and the loss of his own seat, Meighen resigned as Conservative leader.

National results

Party	Party leader	of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
1925			Elected	% Change		%	pp Change	Liberal	W. L. Mackenzie King	203	100	116	+16.0%	1,397,031	42.90%	+3.06	Conservative	Arthur Meighen	232	115	91	align="right"	-20.2%	1,476,834	45.35%	align="right"	-0.78		28	22	11	align="right"	-50.0%	128,060	3.93%	align="right"	-4.52		12	2	11	+450%	60,740	1.87%	+1.61	Robert Forke	12	align="right"	-	8		63,144	1.94%	+1.83		18	2	4	+100%	55,661	1.71%	align="right"	-0.10	Independent		10	2	2	align="right"	-	25,821	0.79%	+0.28	Independent Liberal		5	1	1	align="right"	-	18,627	0.57%	align="right"	-0.42		1		1		6,909	0.21%		Independent Conservative		3	1	align="right"	-	align="right"	-100%	10,164	0.31%	align="right"	-0.23	Progressive-Conservative		2	align="right"	-	-	align="right"	-	7,088	0.22%	+0.18	Liberal-Labour		1		-		4,187	0.13%		Labour-Farmer		1	align="right"	-	align="right"	-	align="right"	-	1,441	0.04%	align="right"	-0.11		1	align="right"	-	-	align="right"	-	672	0.02%	align="right"	-0.04	Protectionist		1		align="right"	-		129	x
Total	530	245	245	align="right"	-	3,256,508	100%
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

* not applicable - the party was not recognized in the previous election

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Results by province

The results in the province of Manitoba are used by supporters of electoral reform as a reason to abolish the "First Past the Post" electoral system. Note that with 40% of the vote, the Conservatives did not win a single seat in the province.

Party name	BC	AB	SK	MB	ON	QC	NB	NS	PE	YK	Total	Liberal	Seats:	1<	--BC-->	3<	--Alb-->	16 <	--Sask-->	4<	--Man-->	24<	--Ont-->	59<	--Que-->	4 <	--NB-->	2<	--NS-->	3<	--PEI-->	- <	--YK-->	116 <	--Canada/Total-->	Popular Vote (%):	37.0 <	--BC-->	24.5 <	--Alb-->	51.3 <	--Sask-->	18.4<	--Man-->	35.3<	--Ont-->	61.3<	--Que-->	46.1<	--NB-->	43.5<	--NS-->	52.7<	--PEI-->	44.1<	--YK-->	42.8<	--Canada/Total-->	Conservative	Seats:	12 <	--BC-->	1<	--Alb-->	- <	--Sask-->	- <	--Man-->	53<	--Ont-->	4<	--Que-->	7<	--NB-->	12 <	--NS-->	1<	--PEI-->	1<	--YK-->	91<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	54.2<	--BC-->	31.5<	--Alb-->	27.5<	--Sask-->	39.7<	--Man-->	54.9<	--Ont-->	34.0<	--Que-->	53.9<	--NB-->	53.7<	--NS-->	47.3<	--PEI-->	55.9<	--YK-->	45.4<	--Canada/Total-->	Progressive	Seats:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	4 <	--Sask-->	4 <	--Man-->	3 <	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	11<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	17.9<	--Sask-->	11.2<	--Man-->	5.1 <	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	3.9<	--Canada/Total-->	United Farmers of Alberta	Seats:	<	--BC-->	11<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	11<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	<	--BC-->	38.7<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	1.9<	--Canada/Total-->	Liberal-Progressive	Seats:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	1<	--Sask-->	7<	--Man-->	- <	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	8<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	3.2<	--Sask-->	19.5<	--Man-->	1.4 <	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	1.9<	--Canada/Total-->	Labour	Seats:	- <	--BC-->	1 <	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	2 <	--Man-->	1<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	- <	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	4<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	6.4<	--BC-->	4.3<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	8.7<	--Man-->	1.1<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	2.8<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	1.7 <	--Canada/Total-->	Independent	Seats:	1 <	--BC-->	- <	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	- <	--Ont-->	1 <	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	2<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	2.3<	--BC-->	0.1<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	0.5<	--Ont-->	1.9<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	0.8 <	--Canada/Total-->	Independent Liberal	Seats:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	1 <	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	1 <	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	2.3<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	0.6 <	--Canada/Total-->	United Farmers of Ontario	Seats:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	1 <	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	1<	--Canada/Total-->	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	0.6<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	0.2<	--Canada/Total-->
Total seats			14 <	--BC-->	16 <	--Alb-->	21 <	--Sask-->	17 <	--Man-->	82<		--Ont-->	65 <	--Que-->	11 <	--NB-->	14 <	--NS-->	4<	--PEI-->	1<	--YK-->	245<	--Canada/Total-->
Parties that won no seats:														Independent Conservative	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	0.8<	--Ont-->	0.1<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	0.3 <	--Canada/Total-->	Progressive-Conservative	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	2.5<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	0.3<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	0.2 <	--Canada/Total-->	Liberal-Labour	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	0.3<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	0.1 <	--Canada/Total-->	Labour-Farmer	Vote:	<	--BC-->	0.9<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	xx <	--Canada/Total-->		Socialist	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	0.1<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	xx <	--Canada/Total-->	Protectionist	Vote:	<	--BC-->	<	--Alb-->	<	--Sask-->	<	--Man-->	<	--Ont-->	xx<	--Que-->	<	--NB-->	<	--NS-->	<	--PEI-->	<	--YK-->	xx <	--Canada/Total-->

xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• List of political parties in Canada
• 16th Canadian Parliament

Further reading

• Book: Argyle . Ray . Turning Points: The Campaigns that Changed Canada 2004 and Before . 2004 . White Knight Publications . Toronto . 978-0-9734186-6-8 . registration.
• Book: Hopkins . J. Castell . The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1925–26 . 1926 . The Annual Review Company . Toronto .

External links

• Principles vs Puffiness, by J.L. Granatstein

Notes and References

1. Web site: Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums. Elections Canada. 10 March 2019.
2. The United Farmers of Alberta, which at the time formed the government in that province, did not have a separate party leader at the federal level. At the time of this election, party leader John E. Brownlee was the Premier of Alberta and the MLA for Ponoka in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.
3. Sharp. Walter R.. 1927. The Canadian Election of 1926. American Political Science Review. en. 21. 1. 101–113. 10.2307/1945541. 0003-0554.