1874 Canadian federal election

File:Cdn1874.PNG

The Canadian parliament after the 1874 election

The Canadian federal election of 1874 was held on January 22, 1874, to elect members of the 3rd Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons. 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 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 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%	+4.77%	Conservative	John A. Macdonald	65	63	39	-38.1%	57,691	17.74%	-8.02%	Liberal-Conservative1	38	36	26	-27.8%	40,234	12.37%	-0.53%	Conservative Labour		1	1	-	-100%	1,515	0.47%	+0.02%	Independents		7	1	4	+300%	10,453	3.21%	+1.58%	Independent Liberal		5	2	5	+300%	6,541	2.01%	+0.37%	Independent Conservative		3	2	3	+50%	2,360	0.73%	+0.03%	Unknown		104	-	-	-	78,008	23.98%	+1.78%
Total			355	200	206	+3.0%	325,247	100%
Source: Parliamentary website

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	QU	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

For a list of candidates elected in the 1874 election, see 3rd Canadian Parliament.

For changes between the 1874 and 1878 elections, see By-elections of the 3rd Canadian Parliament.

Preceded by 1872 federal election

Canadian federal elections

Succeeded by 1878 federal election