1908 Prince Edward Island general election

The 1908 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 18, 1908.[1]

1908 Prince Edward Island general election

← 1904 November 18, 1908 (1908-11-18) 1912 →

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
16 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Francis Haszard John A. Mathieson
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 1908 1903
Leader's seat 4th Queens 5th Kings
Last election 22 seats, 54.1% 8 seats, 45.9%
Seats won 17 13
Seat change Decrease5 Increase5
Popular vote 15,488 14,541
Percentage 51.6% 48.4%
Swing Decrease2.5pp Increase2.5pp

Premier before election

Francis Haszard
Liberal

Premier after election

Francis Haszard
Liberal

The election was won by the governing Liberals, led by incumbent Premier Francis Haszard. Haszard had taken over from his predecessor, Arthur Peters, following his death in January 1908.

Haszard resigned as Premier in 1911 following appointment to the province's Supreme Court, and he was succeeded as Premier by H. James Palmer. Due to his designation as Premier, Palmer ran in a by-election in his district of 3rd Queens; traditionally, the Opposition does not run a candidate in these triggered by-elections, but the Conservatives did in the December, 1911 by-election and defeated Palmer in his own district.

The opposition Conservatives, led by John A. Mathieson, gained five seats in this election.

Party Standings

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Party Party Leader Seats Popular Vote
1904 Elected # %
  Liberal Francis Haszard 22 17 15,488 51.6%
  Conservative John A. Mathieson 8 13 14,541 48.4%

Members Elected

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The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district.[2]

Kings

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Kings     John McLean Conservative     Lauchlin MacDonald Liberal
2nd Kings     Robert Cox Liberal     James McInnis Liberal
3rd Kings     Walter A. O. Morson Conservative     John A. MacDonald Conservative
4th Kings     Albert P. Prowse Conservative     Murdock MacKinnon Conservative
5th Kings     Archibald J. MacDonald Conservative     John Alexander Mathieson Conservative

Prince

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Prince     Benjamin Gallant Liberal     John Agnew Liberal
2nd Prince     John Richards Liberal     Alfred McWilliams Liberal
3rd Prince     Aubin Edmond Arsenault Conservative     Hector Dobie Conservative
4th Prince     James Kennedy Conservative    
Joseph Read Liberal
5th Prince     James A. MacNeill Conservative     J. Edward Wyatt Conservative

Queens

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Queens     Matthew Smith Liberal     Murdock Kennedy Conservative
2nd Queens     William Laird Liberal     John McMillan Liberal
3rd Queens     Herbert James Palmer Liberal     James H. Cummiskey Liberal
4th Queens     David P. Irving Liberal     Francis L. Haszard Liberal
5th Queens     James Warburton Liberal     George E. Hughes Liberal

Sources

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  1. ^ "Provincial General Election Results, 1908" (PDF). Elections PEI. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016.
  2. ^ Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.

Further reading

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