Quebec general election, 1878

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The Quebec general election of 1878 was held on May 1, 1878 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Quebec Liberal Party, led by Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, "defeated" the Quebec Conservative Party led by Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau.

Joly de Lotbinière had become premier two months earlier when the previous Conservative premier Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville had resigned or was deposed by Lieutenant-Governor Luc Letellier de Saint-Just. He was therefore the incumbent. Boucher de Boucherville left the premier's office when the Lieutenant Governor refused to approve railway legislation that had been passed by the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council, i.e., by both houses of the Quebec legislature.

Joly de Lotbinière did not quite win the election: the Conservatives won 32 seats to the Liberals' 31 (and there were two "Independent Conservatives"). Four Conservatives supported him, allowing him to form a minority government, but the Legislative Council pushed him to resign on October 31, 1879, and Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau then took office.

[edit] Results

Party Party leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular vote
1875 Elected % Change # % % Change
     Liberal Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière   19 31 - 65,285 47.49% +8.9%
     Conservative Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau   43 32 -25.6% 68,035 49.49% -1.2%
     Independent Conservative   3 2 -33.3% 4 156 3.02% -7.7%
     Other   - - -
Total   65 65 -   100%  

[edit] See also


Preceded by
1875
List of Quebec general elections Succeeded by
1881
In other languages