1891 Canadian federal election
The 1891 Canadian federal election was held on March 5, 1891, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.
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215 seats in the House of Commons 108 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 64.4% (5.7pp) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1891 Canadian electoral map | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Canadian parliament after the 1891 election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Macdonald led a Conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons. It was a close election and he campaigned hard. Macdonald died a few months after the election, which led to his succession by four different Conservative Prime Ministers until the 1896 election.
It was Wilfrid Laurier's first election as leader of the Liberals. Although he lost the election, he increased the Liberals' support. He returned in 1896 to win a solid majority, despite losing the popular vote.
Canadian voters would return to the issue of free trade 20 years later in the 1911 federal election.