Canadian federal election, 1874

Canadian federal election, 1874

January 22, 1874

206 seats in the 3rd Canadian Parliament 104 seats needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Alexander Mackenzie John A. Macdonald Party Liberal Conservative Leader since March 6, 1873 July 1, 1867 Leader's seat Lambton Kingston Last election 95 seats, 34.7% 100 seats, 38.7% Seats won 129 65 Seat change 34 35 Popular vote 128,455 97,925 Percentage 39.5% 30.1% Swing 4.8% 8.6%

Prime Minister before election Alexander Mackenzie Liberal Prime Minister-designate Alexander Mackenzie Liberal

The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 3rd Parliament of Canada. Sir John A. Macdonald, who had recently been forced out of office as prime minister, and his Conservatives were defeated by the Liberal Party under their new leader Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie.

Macdonald's government had been forced to resign on November 5, 1873 because of allegations of corruption relating to the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (see the Pacific Scandal). The Liberals under Mackenzie formed a government two days later with an election called for January. The Tories were unable to recover from the scandal and lost the election as a result.

The election was the first to occur following Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation, and the first to use secret ballots in Canada. Voter turn-out: 69.6%

National results

The Canadian parliament after the 1874 election

Notes:

¹ Liberal-Conservatives sat with the Conservative caucus in the House of Commons.

Acclamations

The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;

• Ontario: 1 Liberal-Conservative, 13 Liberals
• Quebec: 10 Conservatives, 4 Liberal-Conservatives, 15 Liberals
• New Brunswick: 1 Conservative, 3 Liberals, 1 Independent Liberal
• Nova Scotia: 5 Liberals
• Prince Edward Island: 2 Liberals

Results by province

Vote and seat summaries

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections

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