1874 Canadian federal election

1874 Canadian federal election

← 1872 January 22, 1874 1878 →
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206 seats in the House of Commons 104 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	69.6%[1] (0.7pp)
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 35 35 Popular vote 128,455 97,925 Percentage 39.5% 30.1% Swing 4.8% 8.6%
1874 Canadian electoral map
The Canadian parliament after the 1874 election
Prime Minister before election Alexander Mackenzie Liberal Prime Minister after election Alexander Mackenzie Liberal

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 Tories were unable to recover from the scandal and lost the next election.

The Liberals under Mackenzie had formed a government on November 7 and than called an election for January.

The election was the first general election after Prince Edward Island's entry into Confederation.

Mackenzie was a reformer, and the 1874 election was the first Canadian election to use secret ballots. He promised to reform election laws in other ways too, including the introduction of simultaneous voting (all seats filled at once instead of successively in long-drawn-out election period), judicial consideration of contested electíons, and extension of the franchise. He also made most important pledges concerning railway projects.^[2]

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

• List of Canadian federal general elections