1912 Prince Edward Island general election

The 1912 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on January 3, 1912.[1]

1912 Prince Edward Island general election

← 1908 January 3, 1912 (1912-01-03) 1915 →

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
16 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader John A. Mathieson H. James Palmer
Party Conservative Liberal
Leader since 1903 1911
Leader's seat 5th Kings did not run
Last election 13 seats, 48.4% 17 seats, 51.6%
Seats won 28 2
Seat change Increase15 Decrease15
Popular vote 15,963 10,994
Percentage 59.2% 40.8%
Swing Increase10.8pp Decrease10.8pp

Premier before election

John A. Mathieson
Conservative

Premier after election

John A. Mathieson
Conservative

The election was won by the governing Conservatives, led by incumbent Premier John A. Mathieson, nearly sweeping the island's 30 districts and granting the Conservatives their first clear general election victory since the 1886 election.

Mathieson was designated Premier in December 1911 at the behest of the Lieutenant Governor, following the defeat of his predecessor, Liberal Premier H. James Palmer in a by-election, one that ultimately shifted the balance of power in the Legislature from a bare Liberal majority to a situation in the Conservative's favour.

H. James Palmer, having no seat in the Legislature and ultimately having lost the confidence of the Legislature, resigned from politics and did not run in this election. It is therefore unknown if Palmer led the Liberals in this election, though his biography at the PEI Legislative Documents Online [1] archive makes reference to the "Palmer-led Liberals." There is no other listed leader for the Liberals during the election; Assemblyman John Richards led the Liberals as Leader of the Opposition in the 37th Legislature.

Party Standings

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Party Party Leader Seats Popular Vote
1908 Elected # %
  Conservative John A. Mathieson 13 28 15,963 59.2%
  Liberal H. James Palmer 17 2 10,994 40.8%

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     John Kickham Conservative
2nd Kings     Albert E. Simpson Conservative     Aeneas A. Macdonald Conservative
3rd Kings     John A. Dewar Conservative     John A. MacDonald Conservative
4th Kings     Albert P. Prowse Conservative     Murdock MacKinnon Conservative
5th Kings     Temple W. Macdonald Conservative     John Alexander Mathieson Conservative

Prince

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Prince     Sylvain Gallant Conservative     Charles E. Dalton Conservative
2nd Prince     John Richards Liberal     Alfred McWilliams Liberal
3rd Prince     Aubin Edmond Arsenault Conservative     Hector Dobie Conservative
4th Prince     James Kennedy Conservative    
Michael C. Delaney Conservative
5th Prince     James A. MacNeill Conservative     J. Edward Wyatt Conservative

Queens

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Queens     Murdock Kennedy Conservative     John H. Myers Conservative
2nd Queens     John Buntain Conservative     Louis Jenkins Conservative
3rd Queens     George F. Dewar Conservative     Henry F. Feehan Conservative
4th Queens     John S. Martin Conservative     Alexander Macphail Conservative
5th Queens     Stephen R. Jenkins Conservative     William S. Stewart Conservative

Sources

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  1. ^ "Provincial General Election Results, 1912" (PDF). Elections PEI. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 26, 2017.
  2. ^ Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.

Further reading

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