1874 Canadian federal election Turnout 69.6%[ 1] ( 0.7pp )
1874 Canadian electoral map
The Canadian parliament after the 1874 election
The 1874 Canadian federal election was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada 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 general election after Prince Edward Island 's entry into Confederation, and the first to use secret ballots in Canada.
National results
3rd Parliament
Party
Party leader
# of candidates
Seats
Popular vote
1872
Elected
Change
#
%
Change
Liberal
Alexander Mackenzie
140
95
129
+35.8%
128,455
39.49%
+4.77pp
Conservative
John A. Macdonald
65
63
39
-38.1%
57,691
17.74%
-8.02pp
Liberal-Conservative 1
38
36
26
-27.8%
40,234
12.37%
-0.53pp
Conservative Labour
1
1
-
-100%
1,515
0.47%
+0.02pp
Independents
7
1
4
+300%
10,453
3.21%
+1.58pp
Independent Liberal
5
2
5
+300%
6,541
2.01%
+0.37pp
Independent Conservative
3
2
3
+50%
2,360
0.73%
+0.03pp
Unknown
104
-
-
-
78,008
23.98%
+1.78pp
Total
355
200
206
+3.0%
325,247
100%
Source: Parliamentary website Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine , Detailed riding results Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
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
Party name
BC
MB
ON
QC
NB
NS
PEI
Total
Liberal
Seats
3
1
61
34
10
15
5
129
Popular vote
34.1
47.0
39.6
34.8
47.1
38.1
56.8
39.5
Conservative
Seats
1
1
15
17
2
2
1
39
Vote
4.5
13.8
19.5
17.6
6.8
17.8
17.5
17.7
Liberal-Conservative
Seats
1
10
12
1
2
-
26
Vote
16.9
10.4
14.9
8.6
19.2
15.4
12.4
Conservative Labour
Seats
-
-
Vote
0.9
0.5
Unknown
Seats
Vote
29.2
13.8
27.2
27.5
19.9
9.0
10.3
24.0
Independent
Seats
1
-
-
2
1
4
Vote
9.5
0.8
2.3
17.6
7.7
3.2
Independent Liberal
Seats
1
2
1
1
5
Vote
15.4
1.7
8.2
2.0
Independent Conservative
Seats
1
2
3
Vote
15.9
2.9
0.7
Total seats
6
4
88
65
16
21
6
206
See also
References
Most recent Future elections Lists Electoral districts System