Puneet Varma (Editor)

Manitoba general election, 1927

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Date
  
28 June 1927

Manitoba's general election of 28 June 1927 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada.

Contents

This was the first election in Manitoba history to elect members through a single transferable ballot in all constituencies. Ten candidates were elected in Winnipeg, while every other constituency returned members by instant runoff voting.

The result was a second consecutive victory for the Progressive Party of Manitoba, which was supported by the United Farmers of Manitoba. The Progressives, led by Premier John Bracken, 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 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 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.

Independent candidate John Edmison was also re-elected in Brandon. Jacob Penner ran in Winnipeg as a Communist candidate, but was not successful.

Results by electoral division

The ballot-counting process in this constituency was extremely controversial. Laurendeau was eliminated after the first count, and Hyman was eliminated after the second count. Gagnon was originally declared the winner on the third count by a single vote, but Bernier appealed the decision and was declared elected on recount. The final totals were: Bernier 2646, Gagnon 2618.

  • (x) = Candidate eliminated in this count.
  • Winnipeg:

    First count (quota: 4610)

  • (x)John Thomas Haig (C) 5108
  • Hugh Robson (L) 4862
  • (x)William Sanford Evans (C) 4551
  • (x)John Queen (ILP) 3985
  • William Major (P) 3713
  • (x)Seymour Farmer (ILP) 3497
  • Edward Montgomery (P) 2236
  • (x)John K. Downes (Ind [Moderationist]) 2047
  • Jacob Penner (Comm) 2015
  • William Tobias (C) 1687
  • Royal Burritt (P) 1604
  • (x)Edith Rogers (L) 1582
  • (x)William Ivens (ILP) 1435
  • W.J. Lindal (L) 1362
  • Duncan Cameron (L) 1271
  • Max Steinkopf (P) 1241
  • Ralph Maybank (L) 1191
  • Arthur Moore (Ind [Moderationist]) 1153
  • Theodore A. Hunt (C) 1075
  • Sam Cartwright (ILP) 999
  • R. Durward (ILP) 993
  • R.A. Gillespie (C) 941
  • F. Sedziak (Ind P) 836
  • J. MacLean (L) 761
  • W.A. James (ILP) 561
  • Second count: Haig surplus
  • Third count: Robson surplus (Evans declared elected)
  • Fourth count: Evans surplus
  • Fifth count: James eliminated
  • Sixth count: MacLean eliminated
  • Seventh count: Sedziak eliminated
  • Eight count: Cartwright eliminated
  • Ninth count: Gillespie eliminated
  • Tenth count: Moore eliminated
  • Eleventh count: Steinkopf eliminated
  • Twelfth count: Maybank eliminated (Queen declared elected)
  • Thirteenth count: Queen surplus
  • Fourteenth count: Lindal eliminated
  • Fifteenth count: Durward eliminated (Farmer declared elected)
  • Sixteenth count: Farmer surplus
  • Seventeenth count: Burritt eliminated (Major declared elected)
  • Eighteenth count: Major surplus
  • Nineteenth count: Cameron eliminated
  • Twentieth count: Penner eliminated
  • Twenty-first count (Hunt eliminated):
  • (x)John Thomas Haig (C) 4610
  • Hugh Robson (L) 4610
  • (x)William Sanford Evans (C) 4610
  • (x)John Queen (ILP) 4610
  • (x)Seymour Farmer (ILP) 4610
  • William Major (P) 4610
  • (x)Edith Rogers (L) 4764
  • (x)William Ivens (ILP) 4007
  • William Tobias (C) 3685
  • Edward Montgomery (P) [number not listed]
  • (x)J.K. Downes (Ind [Moderationist]) 3411
  • Twenty-second count (final standings of elected candidates):

  • (x)John Haig (C) 4610
  • Hugh Robson (L) 4610
  • (x)William Sanford Evans (C) 4610
  • (x)John Queen (ILP) 4610
  • (x)Seymour Farmer (ILP) 4610
  • William Major (P) 4610
  • (x)Edith Rogers (L) 4610
  • (x)William Ivens (ILP) 4700
  • William Tobias (C) 4114
  • Edward Montgomery (P) 3960
  • Post-election changes

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

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

  • Donald McKenzie (Liberal/Progressive) 1527
  • Harvey Hicks (C) 1260
  • Morris (William Clubb to new cabinet post, 18 May 1929), 30 May 1929:

  • William Clubb (P) accl.
  • Turtle Mountain (dec. Richard G. Willis, February 1929), 22 June 1929:

  • Alexander Welch (C) 1327
  • W.E. Campbell (P) 995
  • Winnipeg (res. Hugh Robson, January 1930)

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

  • Ivan Schultz (L [endorsed by Progressives]) accl.
  • The Liberals formed an alliance with the governing Progressives in 1932.

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

    References

    Manitoba general election, 1927 Wikipedia