1923 Ontario general election

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1923 Ontario general election
← 1919 June 25, 1923 1926 →
111 seats in the 16th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
56 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Howard Ferguson.jpg Ernest Drury.jpg LIB
Leader Howard Ferguson Ernest C. Drury Wellington Hay
Party Conservative United Farmers Liberal
Leader since December 2, 1920 1920 1921
Leader's seat Grenville Halton (lost re-election) Perth North (lost re-election)
Last election 25 44 27
Seats won 75 17 14
Seat change Increase50 Decrease27 Decrease13
Percentage 49.8% 21.1% 21.8%
Swing Increase14.9pp Increase0.1pp Decrease5.1pp
  Fourth party
  Walter Rollo 1919.png
Leader Walter Rollo
Party Labour
Leader since 1919
Leader's seat Hamilton West (lost re-election)
Last election 11
Seats won 4
Seat change Decrease7
Percentage 4.8%
Swing Decrease4.3pp
Premier before election

Ernest Charles Drury
United Farmers

Premier after election

Howard Ferguson
Conservative

The 1923 Ontario general election was the 16th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 25, 1923, to elect the 111 Members of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").[1]

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by George Howard Ferguson, was elected to power with a majority in the Legislature (although taking less than half the votes cast).

This election ended the rule of the United Farmers of Ontario-Labour coalition government of Ernest C. Drury.

Campaign

Candidate contests in the ridings
Candidates nominated Ridings Party
Con UFO Lib Lab Ind Pro Ind-Lib Totals
Acclamation 2 1 1 2
2 50 43 34 19 2 1 1 100
3 49 48 34 48 13 1 2 1 147
4 8 8 2 9 6 6 1 32
5 1 1 1 1 2 5
6 1 2 1 1 2 6
Total 111 103 71 78 23 12 3 2 292

Voter turnout

The election saw a voter turnout of just 54.7%, the lowest voter turnout in Ontario history until the 2007 election.[2]

The low election turn-out was in part caused by the worst wind, rain and lightning storm in years inundating the western part of the province. [3] The electrical storm and hurricane began shortly after the polls closed, resulting in massive disruption of telegraph and telephone communications, which hampered the reporting of results.[4]

Results

The 1923 election was plagued by low turn-out, and all the parties took fewer voters than they had in 1919.

The UFO actually took a larger proportion of the vote than it had in 1919 but took just a fraction of the seats it had taken in 1919 due to much of the anti-UFO vote concentrating behind Conservative Party candidates. The UFO had held power by virtue of a coalition with Labour and three other MLAs. Together they had received 34 percent of the votes cast in 1919. The Conservatives after the 1923 election took majority government based on taking 34 percent of the vote by that one party alone.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Wellington Hay, lost close to half its caucus in the Conservative landslide. Labour (the Independent Labour Party) too lost most of its MLAs in this turn-around election.

The Conservative party was the most popular, taking 34 percent of the vote. Its candidate was the leading one in a large proportion of the districts, giving it a large majority of seats in the legislature (more than its due proportionally) under the First past the post system in use at the time.

In the election, the UFO again did not run candidates where a Labour candidate was running - and also not in 20 other districts as well. The UFO received the third-most number of votes overall but only ran in about two-thirds of the districts so its vote count likely does not measure its actual support. Together Labour and the UFO ran in 93 seats so the two did not cover all the districts in the province.

The UFO did not receive as many votes as it had in 1919 but still got fairly good numbers considering it did not run candidates in a third of the districts. As the 1923 election was plagued by low turn-out, the UFO received a higher percentage of votes cast than it had received in 1919.

Prior to the election, the UFO government had introduced bills to re-distribute the ridings,[5] and to introduce proportional representation[6] and the single transferable vote,[7] but withdrew them after vehement opposition from the Conservative MLAs,[8] and it was found that even some government members were ambivalent.[9]

Under First past the post, the UFO received about a third of the seats that it was due proportionally overall. Looking at the 71 districts where the UFO ran candidates, it received about half the votes there so was due 35 of those seats but received only eight. In many districts, Conservative candidates took rural seats away from incumbent UFO MLAs by taking just a few hundred more votes than them in each district. In Prince Edward, Conservative candidate Horace Stanley Colliver took just 17 more votes than his closest contender to win the seat.[10][11]

Elections to the 16th Parliament of Ontario (1923)
Political party Party leader MPPs Votes
Candidates 1919 Dissol. 1923 ± # % ± (pp)
Conservative Howard Ferguson 103 25 24 75 50Increase 471,196 49.56% 15.47Increase
United Farmers E.C. Drury 71 44 44 17 27Decrease 200,762 21.11% 0.14Increase
Liberal Wellington Hay 78 27 27 14 13Decrease 203,079 21.36% 4.15Decrease
Labour Walter Rollo 23 11 11 4 7Decrease 45,213 4.76% 4.33Decrease
Independent 12 – – 1 1Increase 15,426 1.62% 2.45Decrease
Independent Liberal 2 1 1 – 1Decrease 5,041 0.53% 0.08Increase
Progressive 3 – – – – 10,122 1.06% New
Farmer–Labour – 1 1 – 1Decrease Did not campaign
Farmer-Liberal – 1 1 – 1Decrease Did not campaign
Soldier – 1 1 – 1Decrease Did not campaign
Vacant 1
Total 292 111 111 111 950,839 100.00%
Blank and invalid ballots 8,886
Registered voters / turnout 1,662,160 57.74% 27.79Decrease

Detailed analysis

Seats and popular vote by party
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
█ Conservative
75 / 111
49.56%
 15.47 15.47
 
█ United Farmers
17 / 111
21.11%
 0.14 0.14
 
█ Liberal
14 / 111
21.36%
 -4.15
 
█ Labour
4 / 111
4.76%
 -4.33
 
█ Independent
1 / 111
1.62%
 -2.45
 
█ Other
0 / 111
1.59%
 -4.68
 
Party rankings (1st to 5th place)
Party Acc 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
█ Conservative 1 74 22 5 1
█ United Farmers 17 43 11
█ Liberal 14 35 27 2
█ Labour 1 3 5 13 1
█ Independent 1 1 1 6 2
█ Progressive 2 1
█ Independent-Liberal 1 1
Totals 2 109 109 59 10 2
Party candidates in 2nd place
Party in 1st place Con UFO Lib Lab Ind Pro
█ Conservative 37 29 4 2 2
█ United Farmers 14 3
█ Liberal 6 6 1 1
█ Labour 2 1
█ Independent 1
Totals 22 43 35 5 2 2
Principal races, according to 1st and 2nd-place results
Parties Seats
█ Conservative █ United Farmers 51
█ Conservative █ Liberal 35
█ Liberal █ United Farmers 9
█ Conservative █ Labour 6
█ Conservative █ Progressive 2
█ Liberal █ Labour 2
█ Conservative █ Independent 1
█ Conservative █ Independent-Liberal 1
█ Liberal █ Liberal 1
█ Independent █ Liberal 1
Total 109

Incumbents not running for reelection

Sixteen MLAs chose not to stand for re-election:[12]

Riding Incumbent at dissolution and subsequent nominee New MLA
Algoma   Kenneth Spencer Stover Arthur Gladstone Wallis   Arthur Gladstone Wallis
Elgin East   Malcolm MacVicar William F. Smith   Michael McKnight
Essex South   Milton C. Fox John Orville Duke   Adolphus T. Armstrong
Huron South   Andrew Hicks William George Medd   Nelson William Trewartha
Lennox   Reginald Amherst Fowler Charles Wesley Hambly   John Perry Vrooman
Middlesex North   James C. Brown Harold Currie   George Adam Elliott
Ottawa West   Hammett Pinhey Hill Albert Edwin Honeywell   Harold Fisher
Oxford South   Albert Thomas Walker John L. Wright   William Henry Chambers
Port Arthur   Donald McDonald Hogarth Francis Henry Keefer   Francis Henry Keefer
Riverdale   Joseph McNamara —   George Oakley
Russell   Alfred Goulet Aurélien Bélanger   Aurélien Bélanger
Simcoe West   William Torrance Allen James Edgar Jamieson   James Edgar Jamieson
Timiskaming   Thomas Magladery Angus John Kennedy   Angus John Kennedy
Toronto Southeast - B   James Walter Curry John Callahan   Edward William James Owens
Wellington South   Caleb Henry Buckland Lincoln Goldie   Lincoln Goldie
York North   Thomas Herbert Lennox William Keith   William Keith

Seats that changed hands

Elections to the 16th Parliament of Ontario – seats won/lost by party, 1919–1923
Party 1919 Gain from (loss to) 1923
Con UFO Lib Lab Ind I-Lib F-Lab F-Lib Sol
Conservative 25 29 13 (2) 9 (1) 1 1 75
United Farmers 44 (29) 3 (2) 1 17
Liberal 27 2 (13) 2 (3) (1) 14
Labour 11 1 (9) 1 4
Independent – 1 1
Independent-Liberal 1 (1) –
Farmer–Labour 1 (1) –
Farmer-Liberal 1 (1) –
Soldier 1 (1) –
Total 111 3 (53) 31 (4) 17 (4) 9 (2) – (1) 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 111

There were 64 seats that changed allegiance in the election.

Resulting composition of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Source Party
Con UFO Lib Lab Ind Total
Seats retained Incumbents returned 16 13 8 1 38
Open seats held 5 2 7
Acclamation 1 1 2
Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated 45 2 2 1 1 51
Open seats gained 7 2 9
Byelection gain held 1 1 2
Change in affiliation 1 1 2
Total 75 17 14 4 1 111

Notable groups of candidates

Women candidates in the 1923 election[12]
Riding Candidate Votes Placed
Fort William █ Liberal Mrs B.O. Allen 1,152 3rd
Toronto Northeast - B █ Progressive Mrs Mary E. Becker 4,033 2nd
Toronto Northwest - B █ United Farmers Edith L. Groves 3,721 2nd


Candidates returned by acclamation[13]
Riding Party Candidate
Kenora █ Labour Peter Heenan
Kingston █ Conservative William Folger Nickle
Dual nominations in the 1923 election[12]
Riding Candidate Votes Placed
Ottawa East █ Liberal Joseph Albert Pinard 4,635 1st
J. Wilfred Gauvreau 3,175 2nd
Ottawa West █ Conservative Albert Edwin Honeywell 6,470 2nd
Arthur Ellis 1,154 4th
Toronto Southeast - A █ Liberal Frederick Hogg 656 3rd
Alfred Burgess 381 4th

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ "1923 General Election". Elections Ontario. Elections Ontario. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  2. ^ "Boring campaign behind poor voter turnout: analysts". CTV News. Bell Media. October 11, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  3. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, June 26, 1923
  4. ^ "Ferguson is Victor". The Georgetown Herald. June 27, 1923. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Bill 177 - An Act respecting the Representation of the People in the Legislative Assembly". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. April 12, 1923.
  6. ^ "Bill 178 - An Act to provide for the Election of Members to the Assembly on the System of Proportional Representation". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. April 12, 1923.
  7. ^ "Bill 179 - An Act to provide for a System of Transferable Votes at Elections to the Assembly". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. April 12, 1923.
  8. ^ Hopkins 1924, pp. 532–534.
  9. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, April 20, 1923
  10. ^ Edmonton Bulletin, June 26, 1923
  11. ^ Canadian Parliamentary Guide 1925
  12. ^ a b c Hopkins 1924, pp. 577–579.
  13. ^ Hopkins 1924, p. 577.

Further reading

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