User:Mr Serjeant Buzfuz/Electoral history of William John Patterson

William John Patterson
Sixth Premier of Saskatchewan
1934 to 1944

This article is the Electoral history of William John Patterson, the sixth Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. He served from 1935 to 1944.

Patterson succeeded Premier James Gardiner after Gardiner resigned to enter federal politics in 1936. Patterson led the Liberal Party of Saskatchewan in two general elections, 1938 and 1944. He was the fifth of six Liberal premiers to date. He won a majority government in 1938, but was defeated in the 1944 election by Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. Patterson retired from politics, and was later appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.

Patterson was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan eight times from 1921 to 1948, seven times by contested elections and once by acclamation.

Summary

Patterson ranks seventh out of the fifteen Premiers of Saskatchewan for time in office, from November 1, 1935 to July 10, 1944, for a total of 8 years, 252 days.

Patterson stood for election eight times from 1921 to 1948, in seven general elections (1921, 1925, 1929, 1934, 1938, 1944 and 1948), and in one by-election (1926). He was elected all eight times, winning seven contested elections and winning once by acclamation. Although he won most of his elections by substantial margins, in the 1944 election, he won by only six votes.

He held several positions in the Cabinet of Premier Gardiner from 1926 to 1929, and again from 1934 to 1935. When Gardiner resigned as premier in 1935, Patterson succeeded him as Liberal leader and Premier.

As Premier, Patterson led the Liberals in two general elections, in 1938 and 1944. He won a solid majority in the 1938 election, but was defeated in the 1944 election by Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. He resigned as Liberal leader in 1946, but remained a Member of the Legislative Assembly. He stood again for election in 1948 and was re-elected, but resigned a year later on being appointed to the federal Board of Transport Commissioners.

In 1951, Patterson was appointed the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, serving in that position from 1951 to 1958.

Saskatchewan general elections, 1938 and 1944

1938 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1938.

For information about the 9th Legislature, 1938 to 1944, see 9th Saskatchewan Legislature.

Patterson led the Liberals in the general election of 1938. He won a solid majority government. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation under George Hara Williams came in second place and continued as the Official Opposition.

Saskatchewan General Election: June 8, 1938

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	Liberal	William John Patterson1	38	200,334	45.45%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	George Hara Williams2	10	82,529	18.73%
	Social Credit	Joseph Needham	2	70,084	15.90%
	Unity	–	2	9,848	2.24%
	Conservative	John Diefenbaker	0	52,315	11.87%
	Independent Labour	–	0	12,039	2.73%
	Labour Progressive	–	0	8,514	1.93%
	Independent	–	0	4,023	0.91%
	Independent Conservative	–	0	828	0.19%
	Independent Social Credit	–	0	228	0.05%
Total			52	440,742	100.00%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan — Elections Results — 1938

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.

1944 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1944.

For information about the 10th Legislature, 1944 to 1948, see 10th Saskatchewan Legislature.

Provincial elections are normally held between four to five years after the previous election, but this election was delayed because of World War II. Patterson again led the Liberals in the general election of 1944, but this time was soundly defeated by Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.

Saskatchewan General Election: June 15, 1944

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Tommy Douglas1	47	211,364	53.13%
	Liberal	William John Patterson2	5	140,901	35.42%
	Progressive Conservative	Rupert Ramsay	0	42,511	10.69%
	Labour Progressive	–	0	2,067	0.52%
	Independent	–	0	705	0.18%
	Social Credit	Joseph Needham	0	249	0.06%
	Independent Liberal	–	0	5	0.00%3
Total			52	397,802	100.00%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan — Elections Results — 1944

¹ Member of the federal Parliament until shortly before the election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after election.
³ Rounds to zero.

Saskatchewan constituency elections

Patterson stood for election to the Legislative Assembly eight times, in two different ridings, Pipestone and Cannington. He was elected once by acclamation and seven times in contested elections. Although he normally won by healthy pluralities or majorities, in one case, 1944, he won by only six votes.

1921 General election: Pipestone

Saskatchewan General Election, June 9, 1921: Pipestone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	William John Patterson	1,624	47.95%
	Independent	Thomas Harkness	1,530	45.17%
	Independent	Allan Brown Potter	233	6.88%
Total			3,387	100.00%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.

1925 General election: Pipestone

Saskatchewan General Election, June 2, 1925: Pipestone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	X William John Patterson	2,046	64.52%
	Progressive	Elias Parmlee St. John	1,125	35.48%
Total			3,171	100.00%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1926 By-election: Pipestone

Provincial Ministerial By-Election, March 18, 1926: Pipestone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	X William John Patterson	Acclaimed	–
Total			–	–
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

The by-election was called on Patterson accepting the position of Provincial Treasurer in the Cabinet of Premier Gardiner, an office of profit under the Crown, on February 26, 1926.
Elected.
X Incumbent.

1929 General election: Pipestone

Saskatchewan General Election, June 6, 1929: Pipestone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	X William John Patterson	2,507	58.34%
	Conservative	Frederick Gore Leggett	1,790	41.66%
Total			4,297	100.00%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1934 General election: Cannington

Saskatchewan General Election, June 19, 1934: Cannington

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	William John Patterson	4,222	49.97%
	Farmer–Labour	Donald Kenneth Cameron	2,152	25.47%
	Conservative	X Samson Wallace Arthur	2,075	24.56%
Total			8,449	100.00%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1938 General election: Cannington

Saskatchewan General Election, June 8, 1938: Cannington

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	X William John Patterson	4,473	56.26%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Gladys Strum	3,477	43.74%
Total			7,950	100.00%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1944 General election: Cannington

Saskatchewan General Election, June 15, 1944: Cannington

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	X William John Patterson	3,210	45.20%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Gladys Strum	3,204	45.12%
	Progressive Conservative	William Armstrong Brigden	687	9.67%
Total			7,101	99.99%1
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.
X Incumbent.
¹ Rounding error.

1948 General election: Cannington

Saskatchewan General Election, June 24, 1948: Cannington

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal	X William John Patterson	4,687	54.44%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Ralph Hjertaas	3,422	39.75%
	Social Credit	Peter Franchuk	500	5.81%
Total			8,609	100.00%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division

Elected.
X Incumbent.

External links

• Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results

• Saskatchewan Archives: Saskatchewan Executive and Legislative Directory