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1927 Manitoba general election

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1927 Manitoba general election
← 1922 June 28, 1927 1932 →
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
27 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader John Bracken Fawcett Taylor
Party Progressive Conservative
Leader since August 8, 1922 April, 1922
Leader's seat The Pas Portage la Prairie
Last election 28 7
Seats won 29 15
Seat change Increase1 Increase8
Popular vote 52,805 44,320
Percentage 32.4% 27.2%
Swing Decrease0.4pp Increase11.7pp
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Hugh Robson John Queen
Party Liberal Independent Labour
Leader since 1927 1923
Leader's seat Winnipeg Winnipeg
Last election 8 6
Seats won 7 3
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease3
Popular vote 33,852 17,133
Percentage 20.7% 10.5%
Swing Decrease2.5pp Decrease0.6pp
Premier before election

John Bracken
Progressive

Premier after election

John Bracken
Progressive

The 1927 Manitoba general election was held on 28 June 1927 to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. The result was a second consecutive victory for Manitoba farmers, following its 1922 win.

This was the first election in Manitoba history to elect MLAs through casting of ranked ballots in all districts. Ten MLAs were elected in Winnipeg through Single transferable vote, as they had done since 1920. The other districts now began to elect MLAs through Instant-runoff voting.

The Progressive Party of Manitoba, led by Premier John Bracken, won a second consecutive majority government in 1927. Progressive candidates won twenty-nine seats out of fifty-five to win their second majority government. During the campaign, the Progressives stressed that they were not a party in the traditional sense and promised "A business (not a party) government". Many Progressive candidates simply described themselves as Bracken supporters. The Progressive Party was supported by the powerful United Farmers of Manitoba organization.

The Conservatives won fifteen seats under the leadership of Fawcett Taylor, an improvement from seven in the election of 1922. This election re-established the Conservatives as the leading opposition party in Manitoba, and made the party a credible challenger for government in the next election.

The Manitoba Liberal Party was unable to regain the support it had lost to the Progressive Party in the previous election. The Liberals won seven seats under the new leadership of Hugh Robson, down one from their 1922 total. After the election, many senior Liberals began to work for an electoral alliance with the Progressives. Robson, who opposed this plan, was persuaded to resign as leader in 1930. The alliance was formalized in 1932.

The Independent Labour Party fell to three seats, down from six in the previous election. All three members, including party leader John Queen, were elected in the city of Winnipeg. Candidates of four separate parties - Liberal, Conservative, ILP and Progressive - plus an Independent - were elected to fill that city's ten seats. Winnipeg seats were filled using a form of proportional representation, Single transferable voting.

Jacob Penner ran in Winnipeg as a Communist candidate, but was not successful. He lasted 19 rounds of transfers but picked up very few votes so was eliminated.

Independent candidate John Edmison was re-elected in Brandon.

The proportion of the vote received by the Progressive Party (based on first-preference votes) was enough to assure a functioning government, but it was one of lowest in Canadian history.[1]

The Legislature experienced a significant turnover of members, with 23 seats electing new MLAs. Twelve incumbents (one in Winnipeg, and 11 more in other ridings) went down in defeat, six failed to be renominated, and five chose not to stand for reelection.[2]

Under the instant-runoff voting used to elect 45 MLAs, the leader in the first count of the district's votes was the one elected in all but three districts,so the final results in the districts outside Winnipeg were almost the same as under First-past-the-post voting .

Of the 45 single-member ridings, two MLAs were returned by acclamation. Twenty-one were decided solely on first-preference votes, with no vote transfers conducted. The remainder (22) went to runoff counts. There were only three "turn-overs" where the first count leader did not win due to vote transfers - in Minnedosa, Morden & Rhineland and Springfield. The Progressive candidate was leading on the first count in all three districts but after vote transfers, Conservatives won two of them and Liberals won one.

Seventeen seats in the single-member districts went to parties different from the previous election. Eleven rural incumbents running for re-election under their old party label were defeated. Three other incumbents changed their party label and were re-elected. Three open seats flipped to another party.

Results

[edit]
Manitoba general election (June 29, 1927)[3]
Party Leader First-preference votes Seats
Votes % FPv Cand. 1922 Elected Change
Progressive[a 1] John Bracken 52,423 32.12 44 28 26 2Decrease
Conservative Fawcett Taylor 44,320 27.15 40 7 15 8Increase
Liberal Hugh Robson 33,852 20.74 40 8 7 1Decrease
  Independent Labour[a 2] John Queen 15,987 9.80 10 6 3 3Decrease
Independent 8,495 5.20 12 4 1 3Decrease
Independent-Moderationist 3,200 1.96 2 1 – 1Decrease
Communist 2,015 1.23 1 – – –
  Independent-Progressive 1,618 0.99 3 – 2 2Increase
  Independent-Farmer 1,302 0.80 1 1 1 Steady
Valid 163,212 100.00 153 55 55 –
Rejected n/a
Total votes cast 163,212
Registered voters/Turnout[a 3] 233,453 69.9
  1. ^ includes Robert Curran, who campaigned as a Liberal-Progressive
  2. ^ after consolidation in the labour movement
  3. ^ number is for contested ridings only
Popular vote
Progressive
 
 32.12%
Conservative
 
 27.15%
Liberal
 
 20.74%
Independent Labour
 
 9.80%
Others
 
 10.18%
Seats summary
Progressive
 
 50.91%
Conservative
 
 27.27%
Liberal
 
 12.73%
Independent Labour
 
 5.45%
Others
 
 3.64%

Results by riding

[edit]

Bold names indicate members returned by acclamation. Incumbents are marked with *.

Seats changing hands

[edit]

In the single-member ridings, 17 seats changed allegiance:

(Italics indicate that incumbent changed allegiance)


In Winnipeg, the seat distribution was changed as follows:

Winnipeg - distribution of seats (1927 vs 1922)
Party 1922 1927 change
Progressive 1 2 1Increase
Conservative 2 3 1Increase
Liberal 2 2 Steady
  ILP 4 3 1Decrease
Independent-Moderationist 1 – 1Decrease
Total 10 10

Turnovers on runoff

[edit]

In the single-member ridings, there were three cases where the first-place candidate on first-preference votes failed to win:

Minnedosa - Summary of results (1927)
Party Candidate First-preference votes Maximum votes
Votes % FPv Votes Round Initial vs transfer votes mix
Progressive Norman W.P. Shuttleworth 1,405 41.89 1,581 2
​​
Conservative George Compton 1,377 41.06 1,595 2
​​
Liberal Walter Cooper Richardson 572 17.05 572 1
​​
Total 3,354 100.00  
Exhausted votes 178 5.31%
​​
Morden & Rhineland - Summary of results (1927)
Party Candidate First-preference votes Maximum votes
Votes % FPv Votes Round Initial vs transfer votes mix
Progressive John Henry Black 1,075 41.20 1,132 2
​​
Conservative Hugh McGavin 1,016 38.94 1,252 2
​​
Liberal Peter Buerckert 518 19.85 518 1
​​
Total 2,609 100.00  
Exhausted votes 225 8.62%
​​
Springfield - Summary of results (1927)
Party Candidate First-preference votes Maximum votes
Votes % FPv Votes Round Initial vs transfer votes mix
Progressive Clifford Barclay 1,459 43.70 1,489 2
​​
Liberal Murdoch Mackay 1,389 41.60 1,507 2
​​
Conservative Theo Stefanik 491 14.70 491 1
​​
Total 3,339 100.00  
Exhausted votes 343 10.27%
​​

First-preference votes by riding

[edit]
  = won on first-preference votes, by receiving majority of valid votes in the first count.

The candidate in the winning position in the first count won in the end in every district, except in the Minnedosa, Morden and Springfield districts, where the winner is indicated with vote tally in bold.

Riding Prog Con Lib ILP Ind Ind-Frm Ind-Mod Ind-Prog Comm Total[3]
Rural single-member ridings
Arthur 1,226 902 2,128
Assiniboia 471 1,380 520 1,320 566 4,257
Beautiful Plains 1,360 965 511 2,836
Birtle 1,134 635 742 2,511
Brandon City 489 1,288 3,526 5,303
Carillon 1,604 458 2,062
Cypress 1,091 1,235 311 2,637
Dauphin 920 1,022 647 2,589
Deloraine 1,174 1,014 369 2,557
Dufferin 1,790 1,047 307 3,144
Emerson[a 1] 795 313 652 814 2,574
Ethelbert 917 1,302 2,219
Fairford 437 296 358 1,091
Fisher 754 310 179 12 1,255
Gilbert Plains 1,021 592 315 1,928
Gimli[a 1] 1,026 198 801 846 2,871
Gladstone 1,311 624 1,935
Glenwood 721 544 1,072 2,337
Hamiota 1,086 520 462 2,068
Iberville Acclaimed
Kildonan and St. Andrews 1,134 1,387 1,159 3,680
Killarney 934 1,189 2,123
Lakeside 1,442 1,274 2,716
Lansdowne 550 1,947 2,497
La Verendrye 1,074 440 581 2,095
Manitou 1,097 1,330 541 2,968
Minnedosa 1,405 1,377 572 3,354
Morden and Rhineland 1,075 1,016 518 2,609
Morris 1,663 285 1,948
Mountain 1,494 1,578 3,072
Norfolk 1,341 1,307 2,648
Portage la Prairie 1,580 795 2,375
Roblin 734 1,057 270 2,061
Rockwood 1,486 719 474 66 2,745
Rupertsland 81 145 216 442
Russell 1,227 936 903 254 3,320
St. Boniface 1,188 1,990 1,790 1,469 6,437
St. Clements 2,146 440 1,436 4,022
St. George 524 466 814 1,804
Ste. Rose 1,055 831 358 2,244
Springfield 1,459 491 1,389 3,339
Swan River 1,213 797 546 2,556
The Pas 582 454 1,036
Turtle Mountain 946 1,167 2,113
Virden Acclaimed
Winnipeg (multi-member riding)
Winnipeg 8,794 13,362 11,029 11,470 3,200 836 2,015 50,706
Provincewide
Total 52,423 44,320 33,852 15,987 8,495 1,302 3,200 1,618 2,015 163,212
  1. ^ a b multiple Independent candidates

Winnipeg

[edit]

Eligible voters 67,124 Valid votes 50,706 Turnout: 76%

10 seats. Quota: 4,610

Elected: 2 Progressive Party, 3 Conservatives, 2 Liberals, 3 ILP (listed in same order as in above table)

Rogers and Ivens passed quota in Round 21. Their surpluses were not transferred as they could not possibly have bridged the gap between the least-popular remaining candidate and the other two remaining contenders. With their election, there were only three remaining candidates and two remaining open seats. Downes was then declared defeated - his votes were not transferred as Tobias and Montgomery were the only ones still standing and there were two seats left to be filled Tobias and Montgomery were elected with partial quota, as the field of candidates had been thinned to the number of remaining open seats.[4]

Winnipeg - Summary of results (1927)[5]
Label Candidate First-preference votes Maximum votes
Votes % FPv Votes Round Initial vs transfer votes mix
Conservative John Thomas Haig* 5,108 10.07 5,108 1
​​
Liberal Hugh Robson 4,862 9.59 4,862 1
​​
Conservative William Sanford Evans* 4,551 8.98 4,800 3
​​
  Independent Labour Party John Queen* 3,985 7.86 4,631 9
​​
Progressive Party William Major 3,713 7.32 5,142 14
​​
  Independent Labour Party Seymour Farmer* 3,497 6.90 5,376 13
​​
Progressive Party Edward Montgomery 2,236 4.41 3,960 22
​​
Independent-Moderationist John K. Downes* 2,047 4.04 3,411 21
​​
Communist Party Jacob Penner 2,015 3.97 2,229 19
​​
Conservative William Tobias 1,687 3.33 4,114 22
​​
Progressive Party Royal Burritt 1,604 3.16 1,791 16
​​
Liberal Edith Rogers* 1,582 3.12 4,764 21
​​
  Independent Labour Party William Ivens* 1,435 2.83 4,700 21
​​
Liberal W.J. Lindal 1,362 2.69 1,669 13
​​
Liberal Duncan Cameron 1,271 2.51 2,173 18
​​
Progressive Party Max Steinkopf 1,241 2.45 1,291 10
​​
Liberal Ralph Maybank 1,191 2.35 1,410 11
​​
Independent-Moderationist Arthur Moore 1,153 2.27 1,218 9
​​
Conservative Theodore A. Hunt 1,075 2.12 2,408 20
​​
  Independent Labour Party Sam Cartwright 999 1.97 1,049 7
​​
  Independent Labour Party R. Durward 993 1.96 1,691 14
​​
Conservative R.A. Gillespie 941 1.86 1,116 8
​​
Independent-Progressive Party F. Sedziak 836 1.65 842 6
​​
Liberal J. MacLean 761 1.50 792 5
​​
  Independent Labour Party W.A. James 561 1.11 562 4
​​
Total 50,706 100.00  
Exhausted votes 5,508 10.86%
​​

Transfers of surplus votes belonging to elected Conservatives Haig and Evans went in large numbers to Tobias, helping him take a seat although he was not in top ten in the first count. Communist candidate Penner's vote tally was not large enough for him to win a seat and he received few vote transfers, but many of his votes were transferred to help elect Ivens, the last ILP member to be elected. The Independent-Moderationist candidate Downes received some vote transfers from supporters of candidates running under other labels, but not enough to maintain a lead over party candidates (Rogers and Ivens) who although initially lower ranking compared to Downes, received many vote transfers from elected or eliminated candidates of the same party. In each party the most popular candidates maintained their position visa vis other candidates of the same party all the way through. The question was how many quota each party had at the start (taking all the party candidates together) and how many they would pick up from cross-party transfers - this set up how many seats each party would take. The seats were filled by the candidates in popularity order set by the voters. Party lists, if they had been used as in Party-list proportional representation, might have dictated that different persons would have filled the seats that were indirectly allocated to each party than were the choice of voters in this election.

Sources

[edit]

The first ballot results for Winnipeg and results for all other constituencies are taken from an official Manitoba government publication entitled "Manitoba elections, 1920–1941", cross-referenced with the 1928 Canadian Parliamentary Guide, and an appendix to the Manitoba government's report of the 2003 provincial election.

All ballot results for Winnipeg after the first count are taken from reports in the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper. It is possible that some errors appeared in the original publication.

Post-election changes

[edit]

Birtle (John Pratt leaves the government side, early in the parliament).

Lansdowne (res. Tobias Norris, 1928), 10 November 1928:

Morris (William Clubb to new cabinet post, 18 May 1929), 30 May 1929:

Turtle Mountain (dec. Richard G. Willis, February 1929), 22 June 1929:

Winnipeg (res. Hugh Robson, January 1930)

Mountain (dec. Irving Cleghorn, 1930), 20 January 1930:

The Liberals formed an alliance with the governing Progressives in 1932.

Brandon City (dec. John H. Edmison, 22 March 1932)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Madden, Wayne D., ed. (1998). Canadian Guide of Leadership and Electoral History - Analytical Supplement. Fort McMurray: W.D. Madden.
  2. ^ "18th Legislature Will Have Many New Faces". The Winnipeg Tribune. 4 July 1927. pp. 1–2.
  3. ^ a b "Eighteenth General Election Held June 28, 1927 - Summary of Results" (PDF). electionsmanitoba.ca. Elections Manitoba. Retrieved 25 January 2023. - valid for first-preference totals by riding
  4. ^ Winnipeg Tribune, June 30, 1927
  5. ^ "As Winnipeg Votes Were Counted". The Winnipeg Tribune. 2 July 1927. p. 2.

Further reading

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