1872 Canadian federal election

The 1872 Canadian federal election was held from July 20 to October 12, 1872, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 2nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's Conservative Party remained in power, defeating the Liberals. However, the Liberals increased their parliamentary representation considerably, while the Conservative seat count remained static, giving them only five more seats than the Liberals. This technically resulted in the country's first minority government, though the support of two independent Conservative MPs functionally gave Macdonald an extremely slim majority.

1872 Canadian federal election

July 20–October 12, 1872
200 seats in the House of Commons 101 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	70.3%[1] (2.8pp)
First party Second party   Leader John A. Macdonald Edward Blake (unofficial) Party Conservative Liberal Leader since 1867 Leader's seat Kingston Bruce South Last election 100 seats, 34.5% 62 seats, 22.7% Seats won 100 95 Seat change 33 Popular vote 123,100 110,556 Percentage 38.7% 34.7% Swing 4.2% 12.0%
Prime Minister before election John A. Macdonald Conservative Prime Minister after election John A. Macdonald Conservative

Edward Blake, who had a seat in both the House of Commons of Canada and the Ontario legislature, resigned as Premier of Ontario in order to run in the 1872 federal election as dual mandates had been abolished. Had the Liberals won the election, he likely would have been offered the position of Prime Minister of Canada. The party had no formal leader as such until 1873 when Alexander Mackenzie was given the title after Blake declined due to ill health. Blake was ill during much of the 1872 campaign, and it was Mackenzie who essentially led the Liberal campaign in Ontario, though not outside the province.

The 1872 general election was the first to include the new provinces of Manitoba and British Columbia, which had both joined Canada after the Confederation of 1867. By-elections had been held in both provinces to elect Members of Parliament in the newly created ridings, with Manitoba receiving four seats and British Columbia five.

Results

National

The Canadian parliament after the 1872 election

1872 Canadian electoral map

↓
100	95	5
Conservative	Liberal	O

2nd Parliament
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1867	Elected	Change	#	%	Change
	Conservative	Sir John A. Macdonald	92	71	63	-11.3%	82,024	25.76%	+2.31pp
	Liberal-Conservative^1		48	29	36	+24.1%	41,076	12.90%	+1.82pp
	Liberal	none (unofficially, Edward Blake)	111	62	95	+53.2%	110,556	34.72%	+12.05pp
	Independents		4	-	1		5,213	1.64%	+1.25pp
	Independent Conservative		3	-	2		2,220	0.70%	+0.70pp
	Independent Liberal		4	-	2		5,232	1.64%	+0.98pp
	Conservative Labour		1	-	1		1,422	0.45%	+0.45pp
	Unknown		104	-	-	-	70,704	22.20%	-11.64pp
Total			367	180	200	+11.1	320,037	100%
Source: Parliament of Canada

Note: ¹ Though identifying themselves as Liberal-Conservatives, these MPs and those identifying as Conservatives were both led by Sir John A. Macdonald (himself a Liberal-Conservative) and sat together in the House of Commons.

Acclamations

The following MPs were acclaimed:

• British Columbia: 3 Liberal-Conservatives
• Manitoba: 1 Liberal-Conservative
• Ontario: 3 Conservatives, 3 Liberal-Conservatives, 10 Liberals
• Quebec: 9 Conservatives, 5 Liberal-Conservatives, 5 Liberals
• New Brunswick: 6 Liberals
• Nova Scotia: 1 Conservative, 4 Liberal-Conservatives, 2 Liberals

Results by province

Party name			BC	Manitoba	Ontario	Quebec	NB	NS	Total
	Conservative	Seats	1	1	26	26	2	7	63
		Popular vote	4.5	29.7	25.9	31.5	8.4	23.5	25.8
	Liberal-Conservative	Seats	3	1	12	11	3	6	36
		Vote			11.9	10.5	17.8	19.8	12.9
	Liberal	Seats	2	1	48	27	9	8	95
		Vote	83.7	35.6	35.3	32.6	46.8	28.1	34.7
	Conservative Labour	Seats			1				1
		Vote			0.9				0.4
	Unknown	Seats	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		Vote	11.8	14.9	23.4	21.5	26.9	16.4	22.2
	Independent	Seats			-	-	1	-	1
		Vote			0.8	1.7		6.1	1.6
	Independent Liberal	Seats			1		1		2
		Vote			1.7			6.1	1.6
	Independent Conservative	Seats		1		1			2
		Vote		19.8		2.2			0.7
Total seats			6	4	88	65	16	21	200

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote Conservative   38.66% Liberal   34.72% Others   26.62%

Seat totals Conservative   50.00% Liberal   47.50% Others   2.50%

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections

References

1. "Voter Turnout at Federal Elections and Referendums". Elections Canada. Retrieved 10 March 2019.