The 1891 Canadian federal election was won by the Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald. Macdonald led a conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons. Macdonald died a few months after the election.
John Abbott succeeded Macdonald as Conservative leader and Prime Minister. Abbott's most famous political comment was "I hate politics."
This was Wilfrid Laurier's first election as leader of the Liberals. Although he lost this election, he returned in 1896 to win a solid majority.
The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy, a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported reciprocity (free trade) with the United States.
National results
| Party
| Party Leader
| # of candidates
| Seats
| Popular Vote
|
| Before
| After
| Change
| #
| %
| Change
|
| Conservative
| | 187
| 87
| 97
| +11.5%
| 332,961
| 42.96%
| +2.80 %
|
| Liberal-Conservative
| <center> John A. Macdonald
| 25
| 24
| 20
| -16.7%
| 43,557
| 5.62%
| 1.64%
|
| Liberal
| <center> Wilfrid Laurier
| 194
| 79
| 90
| +13.9%
| 350,512
| 45.22%
| +2.09%
|
| Independent Conservative
| <center>
| 4
| 3
| 3
| -
| 15,045
| 1.94%
| +0.38%
|
| Independent
| <center>
| 4
| 3
| 2
| -66.7%
| 6,357
| 0.82%
| -0.42%
|
| Nationalist
| <center>
| 1
| 1
| 1
| -
| 0 (1)
| 0.00%
| -0.66%
|
| Independent Liberal
| <center>
| 2
| 5
| 1
| -80%
| 5,573
| 0.72%
| -1.45%
|
| Nationalist Conservative
| <center>
| 1
| 2
| 1
| -50%
| 1,271
| 0.16%
| -0.32%
|
| Unknown
| <center>
| 14
| 1
| 0
| -100%
| 16,890
| 2.18%
| -1.15%
|
| Equal Rights
| <center>
| 2
| -
| -
| -
| 2,455
| 0.32%
| +0.32%
|
| Progressive (2)
| <center>
| 2
| -
| -
| -
| 468
| 0.06%
| +0.06%
|
| Total
| <center>
| <center> 436
| <center> 205
| <center> 215
| <center> +4.9%
| <center> 775,089
| <center> 100.0%
| <center>-
|
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 (http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/process/house/hfer/hfer.asp?Language=E)
|
Notes:
"Before" refers to the standings in the House of Commons at the last election, and not to the standings at dissolution.
(1) One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.
(2) The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being “Progressives”. This may be an error.
Acclamations:
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;
- British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
- Manitoba: 1 Conservative
- Ontario: 1 Conservative
- Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Nationalist
Results by province
| Party Name
| BC
| NW
| MB
| ON
| QC
| NB
| NS
| PE
| Total
|
| Conservative
| Seats:
| 5
| 4
| 4
| 39
| 24
| 10
| 12
| 2
| 97
|
| Vote (%):
| 71.6
| 81.0
| 12.6
| 42.2
| 45.4
| 48.9
| 41.9
| 48.5
| 43.0
|
| Liberal-Conservative
| Seats:
| 1
|
| 3
| 7
| 3
| 2
| 4
|
| 20
|
| Vote (%):
|
|
| 40.5
| 5.3
| 3.0
| 3.7
| 10.8
|
| 5.6
|
| Liberal
| Seats:
| -
| -
| 1
| 44
| 33
| 4
| 5
| 3
| 90
|
| Vote (%):
| 28.4
| 19.0
| 46.9
| 49.1
| 45.9
| 41.3
| 43.6
| 41.0
| 45.2
|
| Independent Conservative
| Seats:
|
|
|
| 1
| 2
|
|
|
| 3
|
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
| 1.3
| 5.9
|
|
|
| 1.9
|
| Independent
| Seats:
|
|
|
| 1
| 1
| -
|
|
| 2
|
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
| 0.7
| 1.2
| 3.2
|
|
| 0.8
|
| Nationalist
| Seats:
|
|
|
|
| 1
|
|
|
| 1
|
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
|
| -
|
|
|
| -
|
| Independent Liberal
| Seats:
|
|
|
|
|
| -
|
| 1
| 1
|
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
|
|
| 2.9
|
| 10.5
| 0.7
|
| Nationalist Conservative
| Seats:
|
|
|
|
| 1
|
|
|
| 1
|
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
|
| 0.7
|
|
|
| 0.2
|
| Total Seats
|
| 6
| 4
| 5
| 92
| 65
| 16
| 21
| 6
| 215
|
| Parties that won no seats:
|
| Unknown
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
| 2.0
| 3.8
|
| 3.1
|
| 2.2
|
| Equal Rights
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
| 0.7
|
|
|
|
| 0.3
|
| Progressive
| Vote (%):
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 0.5
|
| 0.1
|
