1931 Quebec general election

Canadian provincial election From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 1931 Quebec general election was held on August 24, 1931, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Camillien Houde.

Quick facts 90 seats in the 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec 46 seats were needed for a majority, First party ...
1931 Quebec general election
← 1927
August 24, 1931
1935 â†’
90 seats in the 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec
46 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Camillien Houde
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 1920 1929
Leader's seat Montmorency Ran in Montréal–Saint-Jacques (defeated)
Last election 74 seats, 59.33% 9 seats, 34.31%
Seats won 79 11
Seat change Increase5 Increase2
Percentage 54.88% 43.54%
Swing Decrease4.45pp Increase9.23pp
Premier before election

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Liberal

 Premier after election

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Liberal

Close

It was the third general election victory in a row for Taschereau, who had held office since 1920.

Redistribution of ridings

An Act passed in 1930[1] increased the number of MLAs from 85 to 90 through the following changes:

More information Abolished ridings, New ridings ...
Abolished ridingsNew ridings
Divisions of ridings
Creation of riding from parts of others
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  1. [1]
    formed from parts of Hull
  2. [2]
    formed from part of Champlain
  3. [3]
    formed from part of Témiscouata
  4. [4]
    formed from parts of Lac-Saint-Jean

Campaign

The Liberals and Conservatives contested all 90 ridings, with 74 being two-way contests, and the remainder were three-way affairs.

More information Candidates, Total ...
Riding contests, by number of candidates (1931)[2]
Candidates Lib Ind-G Con-G Con Lab-Opp Ind-Opp Ind-Lib Ind-Con Ind Lab Total
2 7474148
3 16211621242248
Total 902116212422196
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Aftermath

The Conservatives initiated proceedings to attempt to quash up to 63 of the Liberal wins.[3] In one of the hearings, Houde confessed that he had personally furnished $60,000 towards the effort, but did not disclose where he had gotten the funds from.[3] In response, the Taschereau government passed the "Dillon Act",[4] which retroactively amended the laws governing the contesting of controverted elections, thus effectively gutting the ongoing actions.[5] When the Union Nationale subsequently gained power after the 1936 election, one of its first measures was to repeal this Act and restore the law to what it was before its passage.[6]

Results

This was the last election in which a candidate campaigned in multiple ridings. Camillien Houde was nominated in both Montréal–Saint-Jacques and Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and he lost both contests.[7]

[2]

More information Political party, Party leader ...
Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1931)
Political party Party leader MLAs Votes
Candidates 1927 1931 ± # ± % ± (pp)
  Government candidates
█ Liberal Louis-Alexandre Taschereau 90 74 79 5Increase 268,732 80,045Increase 54.88 4.46Decrease
█ Independent – 2 – – – 2,787 1,422Increase 0.57 0.14Increase
█ Conservative – 1 – – – 711 New 0.15 New
  Opposition candidates
█ Conservative Camillien Houde 90 9 11 2Increase 213,223 104,118Increase 43.54 9.23Increase
█ Labour – 2 1 – 1Decrease 1,683 2,749Decrease 0.34 1.05Decrease
█ Independent – 1 – – – 106 2,579Decrease 0.02 0.82Decrease
  Other candidates
█ Independent-Liberal – 2 1 – 1Decrease 1,065 8,280Decrease 0.22 2.72Decrease
█ Independent-Conservative – 4 – – – 584 New 0.12 New
█ Labour – 2 – – – 481 1,861Decrease 0.10 0.64Decrease
█ Independent – 2 – – – 323 New 0.06 New
Total 196 85 90 489,695 100%
Rejected ballots 4,190 1,347Increase
Voter turnout 493,885 173,081Increase 77.01 14.10Increase
Registered electors (contested ridings only) 641,324 131,389Increase
Candidates returned by acclamation – 12Decrease
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Popular vote
PLQ
 
 54.88%
PCQ
 
 43.54%
Others
 
 1.58%
Seats summary
PLQ
 
 87.78%
PCQ
 
 12.22%

Synopsis of results

More information Riding, Winning party ...
Results by riding - 1931 Quebec general election[2][8]
Riding Winning party Turnout
[a 1]		 Votes
Name 1927 Party Votes Share Margin
#		 Margin
%		 Lib Con Gov Opp Other Total
 
Abitibi Lib Lib 2,68563.42%1,30930.92%76.12%2,6851,376––1734,234
Argenteuil Lib Lib 2,13055.70%43611.40%80.43%2,1301,694–––3,824
Arthabaska Lib Lib 3,59068.79%1,96137.57%84.86%3,5901,629–––5,219
Bagot Lib Lib 1,87852.96%2105.92%89.07%1,8781,668–––3,546
Beauce Lib Lib 3,84753.77%1,25017.47%82.82%3,8472,597711––7,155
Beauharnois Lib Lib 2,31151.65%1483.31%82.58%2,3112,163–––4,474
Bellechasse Lib Lib 2,83967.82%1,49235.64%84.44%2,8391,347–––4,186
Berthier Lib Lib 2,47957.45%64314.90%87.94%2,4791,836–––4,315
Bonaventure Lib Lib 3,93358.91%1,19017.83%91.58%3,9332,743–––6,676
Brome Lib Lib 1,47250.43%250.86%84.52%1,4721,447–––2,919
Chambly Lib Con 2,83455.72%58211.44%73.15%2,2522,834–––5,086
Champlain Lib Lib 3,12553.91%4537.81%87.18%3,1252,672–––5,797
Charlevoix—Saguenay Lib Lib 4,22359.29%1,32318.57%81.96%4,2232,900–––7,123
Châteauguay Lib Lib 1,66158.73%49417.47%80.99%1,6611,167–––2,828
Chicoutimi Lib Lib 4,12343.58%1,44815.30%71.69%4,1232,6752,663––9,461
Compton Lib Lib 2,65854.84%4699.68%83.63%2,6582,189–––4,847
Deux-Montagnes Con Con 1,64551.52%973.04%91.54%1,5481,645–––3,193
Dorchester Lib Lib 3,25355.67%66311.35%85.53%3,2532,590–––5,843
Drummond Lib Lib 2,84856.28%63612.57%82.06%2,8482,212–––5,060
Frontenac Lib Lib 2,68760.57%93821.15%84.94%2,6871,749–––4,436
Gaspé-Nord New Lib 1,33060.40%45820.80%88.72%1,330872–––2,202
Gaspé-Sud New Lib 2,74455.80%57011.59%86.33%2,7442,174–––4,918
Gatineau New Lib 2,90654.87%75914.33%79.80%2,9062,147––2435,296
Hull Con Con 3,49160.84%1,24421.68%63.95%2,2473,491–––5,738
Huntingdon Lib Con 1,36153.29%1686.58%81.54%1,1931,361–––2,554
Iberville Lib Lib 1,30371.16%77542.33%79.02%1,303528–––1,831
Îles-de-la-Madeleine Lib Lib 76950.26%80.52%80.88%769761–––1,530
Jacques-Cartier Lib Lib 4,14751.34%2162.67%77.62%4,1473,931–––8,078
Joliette Lib Lib 3,08954.70%5319.40%88.46%3,0892,558–––5,647
Kamouraska Lib Lib 2,63059.44%83518.87%82.21%2,6301,795–––4,425
L'Assomption Lib Lib 1,80161.20%78326.61%75.15%1,8011,018124––2,943
L'Islet Lib Lib 2,13160.40%73420.80%78.91%2,1311,397–––3,528
Labelle Lib Lib 1,90257.92%52015.83%72.28%1,9021,382–––3,284
Lac-Saint-Jean Lib Lib 2,05552.75%2145.49%80.84%2,0551,841–––3,896
Laval Con Lib 8,69652.39%7924.77%72.43%8,6967,904–––16,600
Laviolette New Lib 3,01056.11%65612.23%81.96%3,0102,354–––5,364
Lévis Lib Lib 3,59553.04%4126.08%86.43%3,5953,183–––6,778
Lotbinière Lib Lib 2,95567.24%1,51534.47%81.85%2,9551,440–––4,395
Maisonneuve Lab Lib 7,53849.67%1,53010.08%68.38%7,5386,008–1,630–15,176
Maskinongé Lib Lib 1,91261.24%70222.49%81.47%1,9121,210–––3,122
Matane Lib Lib 2,59255.86%54411.72%83.98%2,5922,048–––4,640
Matapédia Lib Lib 2,81362.57%1,13025.13%79.83%2,8131,683–––4,496
Mégantic Lib Lib 4,06063.09%1,68526.18%79.93%4,0602,375–––6,435
Missisquoi Lib Lib 2,14154.83%3779.65%78.93%2,1411,764–––3,905
Montcalm Lib Lib 1,76556.07%38212.13%91.29%1,7651,383–––3,148
Montmagny Lib Lib 2,10157.45%54514.90%78.94%2,1011,556–––3,657
Montmorency Lib Lib 1,94958.25%58117.36%89.28%1,9491,368––293,346
Montréal-Dorion Con Lib 4,83152.80%5125.60%70.50%4,8314,319–––9,150
Montréal-Laurier Lib Lib 3,56558.25%1,42623.30%61.85%3,5652,139––4166,120
Montréal-Mercier Lib Lib 9,51359.45%3,20220.01%69.44%9,5136,311––17716,001
Montréal–Saint-Georges Con Con 1,55351.37%832.75%55.27%1,4701,553–––3,023
Montréal–Saint-Henri Lib Lib 3,95659.91%1,45522.04%74.77%3,9562,501––1466,603
Montreal–Saint-Jacques[a 2] Lib Lib 3,58356.34%80612.67%73.83%3,5832,777–––6,360
Montréal–Saint-Laurent Lib Lib 2,63568.98%1,45037.96%83.41%2,6351,185–––3,820
Montréal–Saint-Louis Lib Lib 2,78978.21%2,07758.24%62.08%2,789712––653,566
Montreal–Sainte-Anne Lib Lib 2,06954.38%68317.95%70.89%2,0691,386––3503,805
Montréal–Sainte-Marie[a 2] Lib Lib 4,98952.43%5155.41%74.10%4,9894,474–53–9,516
Montréal-Verdun Con Con 7,07451.12%1,1328.18%64.60%5,9427,074––82213,838
Napierville-Laprairie Lib Lib 2,33758.67%69117.35%86.81%2,3371,646–––3,983
Nicolet Lib Lib 3,31657.91%1,01217.67%80.86%3,3162,304–106–5,726
Papineau Lib Lib 3,55456.43%81012.86%79.55%3,5542,744–––6,298
Pontiac Lib Lib 2,16452.44%2014.87%75.40%2,1641,963–––4,127
Portneuf Lib Lib 3,74652.14%3084.29%84.80%3,7463,438–––7,184
Québec-Centre Lib Lib 3,52254.95%6359.91%76.59%3,5222,887–––6,409
Québec-Comté Lib Lib 3,74754.66%6399.32%92.20%3,7473,108–––6,855
Québec-Est Lib Lib 5,02157.67%1,33615.35%81.55%5,0213,685–––8,706
Québec-Ouest Lib Lib 1,64152.82%1755.63%80.82%1,6411,466–––3,107
Richelieu Lib Lib 2,68555.13%53210.92%87.51%2,6852,153––324,870
Richmond Lib Lib 2,91559.81%95619.61%79.93%2,9151,959–––4,874
Rimouski Lib Lib 2,45552.25%2114.49%87.80%2,4552,244–––4,699
Rivière-du-Loup New Lib 3,77764.29%1,67928.58%81.64%3,7772,098–––5,875
Roberval New Lib 2,73252.89%2995.79%88.00%2,7322,433–––5,165
Rouville Lib Con 1,56250.23%140.45%88.06%1,5481,562–––3,110
Saint-Hyacinthe Lib Lib 3,11558.78%93117.57%86.85%3,1152,184–––5,299
Saint-Jean Lib Lib 2,38774.02%1,54948.03%74.72%2,387838–––3,225
Saint-Maurice Lib Lib 3,57157.36%91614.71%82.38%3,5712,655–––6,226
Saint-Sauveur Lib Con 3,91150.16%250.32%85.89%3,8863,911–––7,797
Shefford Lib Lib 2,98952.94%3325.88%83.21%2,9892,657–––5,646
Sherbrooke Con Lib 4,11452.51%3945.03%76.69%4,1143,720–––7,834
Soulanges Lib Lib 1,12058.89%33817.77%82.09%1,120782–––1,902
Stanstead Lib Lib 2,90758.59%85217.17%80.69%2,9072,055–––4,962
Témiscamingue Lib Lib 2,06260.13%69520.27%77.71%2,0621,367–––3,429
Témiscouata Lib Lib 1,67152.45%1564.90%87.57%1,6711,515–––3,186
Terrebonne Lib Lib 4,74965.97%2,29931.93%81.15%4,7492,450–––7,199
Trois-Rivières Con Con 3,81250.27%410.54%82.96%3,7713,812–––7,583
Vaudreuil Lib Lib 1,38555.22%26210.45%83.83%1,3851,123–––2,508
Verchères Lib Lib 1,62360.04%54320.09%88.51%1,6231,080–––2,703
Westmount Con Con 8,94467.52%4,64235.04%45.04%4,3028,944–––13,246
Wolfe Lib Lib 1,90757.06%47214.12%85.04%1,9071,435–––3,342
Yamaska Lib Con 1,90952.10%1544.20%88.35%1,7551,909–––3,664
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  1. [1]
    including spoilt ballots
  2. [2]
    Camillien Houde stood for reelection in Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and also campaigned in Montreal–Saint-Jacques
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = previously incumbent in another riding
  = other incumbents renominated
  = multiple candidates

Analysis

None of the third parties achieved a 1st- or 2nd-place result.

More information Source, Party ...
Resulting composition of the 18th Quebec Legislative Assembly[8]
SourceParty
Lib Con Total
Seats retainedIncumbents returned 56662
Open seats held 1212
Byelection loss reversed 11
Seats changing handsIncumbents defeated 426
Open seats gained 22
Byelection gain held 11
New ridingsIncumbent returned in new seat 22
New MLAs elected 44
Total 791190
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See also

Further reading

  • The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1932. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1933.

References

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