1935 Canadian federal election

Canadian federal election, 1935

October 14, 1935
245 seats in the 18th Canadian Parliament 123 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader W. L. Mackenzie King R. B. Bennett J. H. Blackmore Party Liberal Conservative Social Credit Leader since 1919 1927 1935 Leader's seat Prince Albert Calgary West Lethbridge Last election 90 134 pre-creation Seats won 173 39 17 Seat change +83 -95 +17 Popular vote 1,967,839 1,290,671 180,679 Percentage 44.68% 29.84% 4.10% Swing +0.65pp -18.48pp +4.10pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader J. S. Woodsworth H. H. Stevens Party Co-operative Commonwealth Reconstruction Leader since 1932 1935 Leader's seat Winnipeg North Centre Kootenay East Last election pre-creation pre-creation Seats won 7 1 Seat change +7 +1 Popular vote 410,125 384,462 Percentage 9.31% 8.73% Swing +9.31pp +8.73pp
Prime Minister before election R. B. Bennett Conservative Prime Minister-designate William Lyon Mackenzie King Liberal

The Canadian federal election of 1935 was held on October 14, 1935 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 18th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of William Lyon Mackenzie King won a majority government, defeating Prime Minister R.B. Bennett's Conservative Party.

The central issue was the economy, which was still in the depths of the Great Depression. Bennett, in office since the 1930 election, had done little to stimulate the economy during his first few years, believing that a policy of high tariffs and trade within the British Empire would correct the depression. In the last months of his time in office, he reversed his position, however, copying the popular New Deal of Franklin Roosevelt in the United States. Upset about high unemployment and inaction by the federal government, voters were unwilling to allow the Conservatives to continue to govern, despite their change of policy.

The Conservatives were also suffering severe internal divisions. During his first years in office, Bennett had alienated those in his party who supported intervention in the economy. His last minute conversion to interventionism alienated the rest of the party. Former cabinet minister H.H. Stevens left to form the Reconstruction Party. Senior minister Sir Joseph Flavelle announced he would be supporting the Liberals.

Voters opted for Mackenzie King's promise of mild reforms to restore economic health. The Liberals crushed the Tories, winning 171 seats to the Conservatives' 39, the worst ever performance by the Tories until their collapse in 1993. The Liberal Party would continue to hold power until 1957.

The 1935 election was also important in it saw the final demise of the Progressive Party and the United Farmers of Alberta. Two new movements rose out of the west, however. The new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, a social democratic party, first competed in this election and won seven seats, promising social reform. The Social Credit Party of Canada was even more successful, capturing seventeen seats on its platform of monetary reform despite winning less of the popular vote than the former.

The Canadian parliament after the 1935 election

National results

↓
173	39	17	7	9
Liberal	Conservative	SC	CCF	O

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1930	Elected	% Change	#	%	pp Change
	Liberal	W. L. Mackenzie King	245	90	173	+92.2%	1,967,839	44.68%	+0.65
	Conservative	R. B. Bennett	228	134	39	-70.9%	1,290,671	29.84%	-18.48
	Social Credit	J. H. Blackmore	46	*	17	*	180,679	4.10%	*
	Co-operative Commonwealth	J. S. Woodsworth	121	*	7	*	410,125	9.31%	*
	Liberal–Progressive		5	3	4	+33.3%	29,569	0.67%	-0.48
	Reconstruction	H.H. Stevens	172	*	1	*	384,462	8.73%	*
	Independent Liberal		24	-	1		54,239	1.23%	+0.86
	Independent		13	2	1	-50.0%	17,207	0.39%	-0.16
	United Farmers of Ontario-Labour		1	-	1		7,210	0.39%	+0.16
	Independent Conservative		4	-	1		1,078	0.02%	-0.24
	Communist	Tim Buck	12	-	-	-	20,140	0.46%	+0.34
	Labour		5	2	-	-100%	14,423	0.33%	-0.35
	Progressive-Conservative		2	1	-	-100%	12,220	0.28%	-0.13
	Verdun		1	*	-	*	4,214	0.10%	*
	Anti-Communist		1	*	-	*	3,961	0.09%	*
	Unknown		3	-	-	-	3,407	0.08%	-0.11
	Independent Reconstructionist		1	*	0	*	865	0.02%	*
	Technocrat		1	*	0	*	733	0.02%	*
	Liberal-Labour		3	-	-	-	708	0.02%	-0.17
	Socialist		1	*	-	*	251	0.01%	*
	Independent Labour		1	-	-	-	221	0.01%	-0.41
	Veteran		1	*	-	*	79	x	*
Total			891	245	245	-	4,404,301	100%
Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867

Notes:

* The party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x - less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Vote and seat summaries

Popular vote
Liberal			44.68%
Conservative			29.84%
CCF			9.31%
Social Credit			4.10%
Others			12.07%

Seat totals
Liberal			70.61%
Conservative			15.92%
Social Credit			6.94%
CCF			2.86%
Others			3.67%

Results by province

Party name			BC	AB	SK	MB	ON	QC	NB	NS	PE	YK	Total
	Liberal	Seats won by party:	6	1	16	10	56	59	9	12	4	-	173
		Popular Vote (%):	31.8	21.6	40.8	31.7	42.2	56.0	57.2	52.7	58.3	44.4	44.7
	Conservative	Seats:	5	1	1	1	25	5	1	-	-		39
		Vote:	24.9	17.6	18.0	27.9	35.8	27.5	31.9	34.5	38.4		29.8
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Seats:	3	-	2	2	-	-					7
		Vote:	32.7	12.0	21.3	19.4	8.0	0.6					8.8
	Social Credit	Seats:	-	15	2	-							17
		Vote:	0.6	46.6	17.8	2.0							4.1
	Liberal-Progressive	Seats:				4							4
		Vote:				10.5							0.7
	Reconstruction	Seats:	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-		1
		Vote:	7.3	0.7	1.3	5.9	11.4	9.3	9.7	12.7	3.4		8.7
	Independent Liberal	Seats:				-	-	1	-	-			1
		Vote:				0.2	0.6	3.8	0.4	3			1.2
	Independent	Seats:	1			-	-	-	-				1
		Vote:	1.8			0.1	0.2	0.7	0.8				0.4
	UFO-Labour	Seats:					1						1
		Vote:					0.5						0.2
	Independent Conservative	Seats:						-				1	1
		Vote:						xx				55.6	xx
Total Seats			16	17	21	17	82	65	10	12	4	1	245
Parties that won no seats:
	Communist	Vote:	0.5	1.1	0.8	0.7	0.5	0.3					0.5
	Farmer-Labour	Vote:	0.3				0.5	0.5					0.3
	Progressive-Conservative	Vote:				0.5		0.7					0.1
	Verdun	Vote:						0.4					0.1
	Anti-Communist	Vote:					0.2						0.1
	Unknown	Vote:					0.x	0.x					0.1
	Independent Reconstruction	Vote:						0.1					xx
	Technocrat	Vote:		0.3									xx
	Liberal-Labour	Vote:						0.1					xx
	Socialist	Vote:	0.1										xx
	Independent Labour	Vote:						0.x					xx
	Veteran	Vote:						0.x					xx

• xx - less than 0.05% of the popular vote

See also

• List of Canadian federal general elections
• List of political parties in Canada
• 18th Canadian Parliament

Further reading

• Canadian Annual Review 1935-1936 (1937)
• H. Blair Neatby, William Lyon Mackenzie King: 1932-1939 (1976)