1926 Alberta general election

The 1926 Alberta general election was the sixth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The writs of election were issued on May 10, 1926, allowing an election period of 40 days.

1926 Alberta general election

June 28, 1926 (1926-06-28)

61 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
31 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout67 percent[1]
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader John E. Brownlee Joseph Tweed Shaw
Party United Farmers Liberal
Leader since November 23, 1925 April 21, 1926
Leader's seat Ponoka Bow Valley
Last election 38 seats, 28.9% 15 seats, 34.1%
Seats before 40 9
Seats won 43 7
Seat change 3 2
Popular vote 71,967 47,450
Percentage 39.7% 26.2%
Swing 10.8% 7.9%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Fred J. White Alexander McGillivray
Party Dominion Labor Conservative
Leader since between 1921 & 1926 1925
Leader's seat Calgary Calgary
Last election 4 seats, 11.4% 0 seats, 11.0%
Seats before 3 0
Seats won 5 4
Seat change 2 4
Popular vote 14,123 40,091
Percentage 7.8% 22.1%
Swing 3.6% 11.1%

Premier before election

John E. Brownlee
United Farmers

Premier after election

John E. Brownlee
United Farmers

After Herbert Greenfield had resigned as United Farmers leader and premier, John E. Brownlee accepted the position and led the UFA to a second election victory, increasing the UFA's number of seats.

1926 was the first general election that Single Transferable Vote was used in Alberta. Calgary, Edmonton and Medicine Hat continued to be multi member districts, previously electing members in a plurality Block Vote, now electing members under STV-PR, through the Hare Proportional Representation system.

This election also saw change to the voting system used outside the large cities. Rural districts were single member districts, and MLAs were elected under Alternative Voting system under which rural voters, like their city counterparts, cast preferential ballots, ranked the candidates.

This dual system of voting would last until 1959. Medicine Hat after 1926 changed to a single-member constituency, whose MLA was elected through AV.

Under STV in Edmonton, the UFA captured one seat in Edmonton where it had taken no seats in 1921 under the Liberal government's Block Voting system. It also took a great share of the rural seats. It took four rural seats that had been captured by Liberal candidates in 1921 (Beaver River, Leduc, Sedgewick and Whitford), and one that had been won by an Independent in 1921 (Claresholm). The UFA also won the district of Empress formerly known as Redcliffe, which had been won by the UFA in 1921. The UFA lost its seat in Medicine Hat but gained a seat in the newly created next-door Cypress district. It also lost its St. Albert seat.

Conservatives, being a less popular party, had been badly treated under FPTP and Block Voting but now did better. It won two seats each in Edmonton and Calgary, where Block Voting had been replaced by STV.

At the time of the election call, six seats were sitting vacant. They had been vacated by MLAs who had run in the 1925 federal election. MLA C.W. Cross was elected in the federal election. William McCartney Davidson, Calgary Independent MLA, was another one of those who had left. (Strathmore Standard, Feb. 24, 1926, p. 1)

The UFA vote share went up 10 percent in this election compared to 1921, but this is likely more a result of urban voters not being allowed to cast multiple voters as they had done in 1921, which had artificially raised the Liberal vote count and percentage and lowered the UFA percentage recorded for that election.

Under STV Edmonton elected mixed bag of representatives. UFA, Liberal, Conservative and Labour MLAs were all elected, which compared well with the total sweep that Liberals made in 1921 under Block Voting. In Calgary Conservative supporters found representation under STV where they had been shut out under Block Voting in 1921. Under STV in Medicine Hat a Liberal and a Conservative took the city's two seats - which was fair as the two parties had about equal support there.

Under Alternative Voting outside the cities, if no candidate took a majority of votes in the first count, votes were transferred until a candidate acceptable to a majority of the voters was determined. In Bow Valley the UFA candidate leading in the first count did not have as much support from Conservative supporters and a Liberal took the seat. In four districts only two candidates ran so vote transfers were not needed. Three-way contests would be a feature of most elections from here on in, as Canada had passed the point when two parties dominated politics. Labour and farmer parties were here to stay to fight it out against the two old-line parties.

In fifteen of the province's 49 rural districts three or more candidates ran and vote-splitting meant no one candidate took a majority of the votes on the first count. A UFA candidate was in the top two spots in most of these contests. Liberal and Conservative party supporters were split on whether to support the other old-line party or the UFA, if their candidate was eliminated and their ballots forced to transfer to another. In many cases many Conservative and Liberal back-up preferences went to the UFA candidate who won the seat if he had been leading in the first count. The only turn-overs where the candidate leading in the first count was not elected were in Bow Valley and Pincher Creek, where Conservative back-up preferences favoured the UFA candidate who took the seat over the previously-leading Liberal candidate. Overall the two turn-overs cancel each other but two different individuals were elected due to the Alternative Voting system than would have been elected under FPTP.

The UFA's seat majority was due to its victories in the rural areas. Its moral right to power rested on the fact that to be elected in a rural district a candidate had to have support from a majority of a district's voters. The UFA was elected through majority support in 42 of the province's 52 districts, and its candidate in Edmonton was the most popular of all the candidates who ran there as well.

Results

1926 Alberta provincial election[2]
Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular Vote
1921 Elected % Change # % % Change
United Farmers John E. Brownlee 46 38 43 +13.2% 71,967 39.68% +10.76%
Liberal Joseph Tweed Shaw 54 15 7 -36.4% 47,450 26.17% -7.90%
Labour 12 4 5 +25.0% 14,123 7.79% -3.25%
Conservative Alexander McGillivray 56 - 4   40,091 22.10% +11.12%
Independent Labour 1 - 1   2,467 1.37% -1.69%
Independent Liberal 5 - -   2,728 1.51% 1.02%
Independent 3 4 - -100% 1,254 0.70% -8.96%
Independent UFA 5   -   999 0.55%  
Liberal–Progressive A. D. Campbell 1   -   252 0.13%  
Total 183 61 60 - 181,331 100%  
Popular vote
United Farmers
39.68%
Liberal
26.17%
Conservative
22.10%
Labour
7.79%
Others
4.26%
Seats summary
United Farmers
71.67%
Liberal
11.67%
Labour
8.33%
Conservative
6.67%
Ind. Labour
1.67%

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

6th Alberta Legislative Assembly
  District Member Party
  Acadia Lorne Proudfoot United Farmers
  Alexandra Peter Enzenauer United Farmers
  Athabasca John Frame Liberal
  Beaver River John Delisle United Farmers
  Bow Valley Joseph Shaw Liberal
  Calgary Alexander McGillivray Conservative
  George Harry Webster Liberal
  John Irwin Conservative
     Fred J. White Dominion Labor
  Robert Parkyn Independent Labor
  Camrose Vernor Smith United Farmers
  Cardston George Stringam United Farmers
  Claresholm Gordon Walker United Farmers
  Cochrane Robert McCool United Farmers
  Coronation George Johnston United Farmers
  Cypress Perren Baker United Farmers
  Didsbury Austin Claypool United Farmers
  Edmonton John Lymburn United Farmers
  Charles Weaver Conservative
     Charles Gibbs Dominion Labor
  Warren Prevey Liberal
  David Milwyn Duggan Conservative
     Edson Christopher Pattinson Dominion Labor
  Empress William Smith United Farmers
  Gleichen John Buckley United Farmers
  Grouard Leonidas Giroux Liberal
  Hand Hills Gordon Forster United Farmers
  High River Samuel Brown United Farmers
  Innisfail Donald Cameron United Farmers
  Lac Ste. Anne Charles McKeen United Farmers
  Lacombe Irene Parlby United Farmers
  Leduc Douglas Breton United Farmers
     Lethbridge Andrew Smeaton Dominion Labor
  Little Bow Oran McPherson United Farmers
  Macleod William Shield United Farmers
  Medicine Hat Charles Pingle Liberal
  Nanton Daniel Harcourt Galbraith United Farmers
  Okotoks George Hoadley United Farmers
  Olds Nelson Smith United Farmers
  Peace River Hugh Allen United Farmers
  Pembina George MacLachlan United Farmers
  Pincher Creek Earle Cook* United Farmers
  Ponoka John Brownlee United Farmers
  Red Deer George Wilbert Smith United Farmers
  Ribstone William Farquharson United Farmers
     Rocky Mountain Philip Christophers Dominion Labor
  Sedgewick Albert Andrews United Farmers
  St. Albert Lucien Boudreau Liberal
  St. Paul Laudas Joly United Farmers
  Stettler Albert Sanders United Farmers
  Stony Plain Willard Washburn United Farmers
  Sturgeon Samuel Carson United Farmers
  Taber Lawrence Peterson United Farmers
  Vegreville Archie Matheson United Farmers
  Vermilion Richard Reid United Farmers
  Victoria Rudolph Hennig United Farmers
  Wainwright John Russell Love United Farmers
  Warner Maurice Conner United Farmers
  Wetaskiwin Evert Sparks United Farmers
  Whitford George Mihalcheon United Farmers

(* Cook's defeat of Liberal candidate Bossenberry is the only instance in this election where a candidate who led in the first count was not elected in a second round count, under the preferential balloting system.)

See also

References

  1. Report on Alberta Elections, p. 42
  2. "Alberta provincial election results". Elections Alberta. Archived from the original on February 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
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