1923 Prince Edward Island general election

The 1923 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on July 24, 1923.[1]

1923 Prince Edward Island general election

← 1919 July 24, 1923 (1923-07-24) 1927 →

All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
16 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader James D. Stewart John Howatt Bell
Party Conservative Liberal
Leader since 1921 1915
Leader's seat 5th Kings 4th Prince (lost)
Last election 5 seats, 44.8% 24 seats, 53.5%
Seats won 25 5
Seat change Increase20 Decrease19
Popular vote 27,143 22,884
Percentage 52.3% 44.1%
Swing Increase7.5pp Decrease9.4pp

Premier before election

John Howatt Bell
Liberal

Premier after election

James D. Stewart
Conservative

The opposition Conservatives led by James D. Stewart gained many seats to defeat the incumbent government of Liberal Premier John Howatt Bell.

This election had a number of firsts for PEI. It was the first election in which women on the Island could vote, following legislation passed in 1921.[2]

It also featured the first organized third party in a PEI election, when local members of the Progressive Party ran four candidates in three Prince County districts and collected just over 2% of the vote.

Party Standings

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Party Party Leader Seats Popular Vote
1919 Elected Change # % Change
  Conservative James D. Stewart 5 25 +20 27,143 52.3% +7.5%
  Liberal John Howatt Bell 24 5 -19 22,884 44.1% -9.4%
  Progressive - - - 1,222 2.4% +2.4%
  Independent 1 - -1 677 1.3% -0.4%

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.[3]

Kings

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Kings     Augustine A. MacDonald Conservative     Harry D. McLean Conservative
2nd Kings     Harvey D. McEwen Conservative     James B. McDonald Conservative
3rd Kings     Leslie Hunter Conservative     John Alexander Macdonald Conservative
4th Kings     Maynard F. McDonald Conservative     Albert P. Prowse Conservative
5th Kings     J. Howard MacDonald Conservative     James David Stewart Conservative

Queens

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Queens     Murdock Kennedy Conservative     Alexander McNevin Conservative
2nd Queens     John Buntain Conservative     Louis Jenkins Conservative
3rd Queens     Leonard J. Wood Conservative     J. Augustine MacDonald Conservative
4th Queens     James C. Irving Liberal     Shaw McMillan Conservative
5th Queens     W. Chester S. McLure Conservative     William J. P. MacMillan Conservative

Prince

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District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party
1st Prince     Jeremiah Blanchard Liberal     Wilfred Tanton Conservative
2nd Prince     Albert Charles Saunders Liberal     William H. Dennis Liberal
3rd Prince     Adrien Arsenault Conservative     Thomas MacNutt Conservative
4th Prince     Whitefield Bentley Conservative    
John H. Myers Conservative
5th Prince     James A. MacNeill Conservative     Creelman McArthur Liberal

Sources

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  1. ^ "Provincial General Election Results, 1923" (PDF). Elections PEI. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 25, 2015.
  2. ^ "Women in Politics". Elections PEI.
  3. ^ Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.

Further reading

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