Ontario general election, 1934

Ontario general election, 1934

June 19, 1934

90 seats in the 19th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 46 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party Third party   Leader Mitchell Hepburn George S. Henry John Mitchell as party president Party Liberal Conservative Co-operative Commonwealth Leader since December 17, 1930 1930 April 14, 1934 Leader's seat Elgin York East Ran in Wentworth (Lost) Last election 13 90 n.a. Seats won 65 17 1 Seat change +52 -73 +1 Percentage 50.4% 39.8% 7.0% Swing +17.6% -19.0% +7.0%

Premier before election George S. Henry Conservative Premier-designate Mitchell Hepburn Liberal

The Ontario general election, 1934 was the 19th general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on June 19, 1934, to elect the 90 Members of the 19th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Mitchell Hepburn, defeated the governing Ontario Conservative Party, led by George Stewart Henry. Hepburn was assisted by Harry Nixon's Progressive bloc of MLAs who ran in this election as Liberal-Progressives on the understanding that they would support a Hepburn led government. Nixon, himself, became a senior cabinet minister in the Hepburn government.

The Liberals won a majority in the Legislature, while the Conservatives lost four out of every five seats that they had won in the previous election.

The legislature shrunk in size after the election of 1934 from 112 seats to 90.

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, in its first provincial election, ran 37 candidates^[1] and won a seat in the Ontario Legislature for the first time with the election of Samuel Lawrence in Hamilton East.

The United Farmers of Ontario had affiliated with the CCF but disaffiliated immediately prior to the 1934 election due to a row over suspected Communist infiltration of the party. Accordingly, two UFO nominated candidates, incumbent MLA Farquhar Oliver (Grey South) and Leslie Warner Oke, former MLA for Lambton East, ran as UFO candidates rather than with the CCF. Oliver was re-elected and would subsequently support the Hepburn government.

Earl Hutchinson of Kenora was re-elected as a Labour MLA but resigns a month later in order to allow Peter Heenan, a former Labour MLA in the riding, to contest Kenora in a by-election as a Liberal so that he could be appointed to Cabinet. Hutchinson is subsequently appointed vice-chairman of the Workmen's Compensation Board.

Results

	Party	Leader	1929	Elected	% change	Popular vote
%	change
	Liberal	Mitchell Hepburn	13	65	+400%	50.4%	+17.6%
	Conservative	George Stewart Henry	90	17	-81.1%	39.8%	-19.0%
	Liberal–Progressive**	Harry Nixon	1	4	+300%**
	Co-operative Commonwealth	John Mitchell (party president)	*	1	*	7.0%	*
	Labour		1	1	-
	United Farmers	Farquhar Oliver and Leslie Oke	1	1	-
	Independent		-	1
	Progressive**		4	*	-100%	*	*
	Conservative Independent		2	-	-100%
Total			112	90	–19.6%	100%

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates.

** 4 Progressives and 1 Liberal-Progressive were elected in 1929. In the 1934 election, Progressive leader Harry Nixon led the party into a coalition with the Liberals under the Liberal-Progressive label. While there are three more Liberal-Progressives in 1934 than in 1929 there was a net loss of one seat if one adds in the Progressives elected in 1929.

See also

• Politics of Ontario
• List of Ontario political parties
• Premier of Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)

References

1. "Nominations for Elections in Ontario and Saskatchewan". Ottawa Citizen. 13 June 1934. Retrieved 7 February 2016.