1886 Ontario general election explained

The 1886 Ontario general election was the sixth general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on December 28, 1886, to elect the 90 Members of the 6th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). The election results were characterized a "crushing defeat for the Conservatives.^[1]

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Oliver Mowat, won a fifth consecutive term in government and an increased majority in the Legislature.

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by William Ralph Meredith lost five of its seats.

In Toronto, this and the next election (1890) were held under the Limited Vote system wherein Toronto voters had two votes for the three MPPs in their district. This allowed a degree of minority representation.^[2]

Redistribution of ridings

The Assembly was increased from 88 to 90 members,^[3] through the following changes:

Abolished ridings	New ridings
Divisions of ridings
Algoma	Algoma East Algoma West
Muskoka and Parry Sound	Muskoka Parry Sound
Mergers of ridings
Cornwall Stormont	Cornwall and Stormont
Toronto East Toronto West	Toronto[4]
Reorganization of ridings
Bruce North Bruce South	Bruce Centre Bruce North Bruce South
Grenville South Leeds North and Grenville North Leeds South	Grenville Leeds
Simcoe East Simcoe South Simcoe West	Simcoe Centre Simcoe East Simcoe West
Victoria North Victoria South	Victoria East Victoria West

Results

^[5] |-! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party! rowspan=2 | Party leader! colspan=5 | MPPs! colspan=3 | Votes|-! Candidates!1883!Dissol.!1886!±!#!%! ± (pp)|style="text-align:left;"|Oliver Mowat|88|48||57|9|153,282|48.41%|0.21|style="text-align:left;"|William Ralph Meredith|83|37||32|5|148,969|47.05%|0.46|style="text-align:left;"||5|1||1||2,145|0.68%|0.85|style="text-align:left;"|||2|| - |2|colspan="3"|Did not campaign|style="text-align:left;"||5| - | - | - ||12,196|3.85%|2.32|style="text-align:left;"||1| - | - | - ||14| - ||style="text-align:left;"||| - | - | - ||colspan="3"|Did not campaign|colspan="3"|||colspan="5"||-style="background:#E9E9E9;"|colspan="3" style="text-align:left;"|Total|182|88|88|90||316,606|100.00%||-|colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Blank and invalid ballots|align="right"|3,622|style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2"||-style="background:#E9E9E9;"|colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Registered voters / turnout|459,495|69.69%|6.23|}

Party !! Seats !! Votes !! colspan="3"

Change (pp)

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1886 Ontario general election

Riding[6]	Winning party								Turnout	Votes
Name[7]	1883		Party		Votes	Share	Margin #	Margin %		Lib	Con	Lab			Total
Addington		Con		Con	1,712	53.42%	219	6.83%	70.69%	1,493	1,712	–	–	–	3,205
Algoma East	New			Lib	acclaimed
Algoma West	New			Lib	acclaimed
Brant North		Lib		Lib	1,025	60.87%	366	21.73%	55.41%	1,025	659	–	–	–	1,684
Brant South		Lib		Lib	1,881	60.58%	657	21.16%	57.84%	1,881	1,224	–	–	–	3,105
Brockville		Lib		Lib	1,844	54.19%	285	8.37%	71.33%	1,844	1,559	–	–	–	3,403
Bruce Centre	New			Lib	1,753	50.45%	31	0.89%	71.55%	1,753	1,722	–	–	–	3,475
Bruce North		I-Lib		Con	1,738	51.77%	119	3.54%	68.33%	1,619	1,738	–	–	–	3,357
Bruce South		Lib		Lib	2,024	54.69%	347	9.38%	74.63%	2,024	1,677	–	–	–	3,701
Cardwell		Con		Con	1,805	59.71%	587	19.42%	57.66%	1,218	1,805	–	–	–	3,023
Carleton		Con		Con	1,824	75.40%	1,229	50.81%	45.79%	595	1,824	–	–	–	2,419
Cornwall and Stormont	New			Lib	2,068	54.48%	340	8.96%	69.39%	2,068	1,728	–	–	–	3,796
Dufferin		Con		Con	acclaimed
Dundas		Con		Lib	1,977	50.32%	25	0.64%	81.54%	1,977	1,952	–	–	–	3,929
Durham East		Con		Con	1,696	56.36%	383	12.73%	63.53%	1,313	1,696	–	–	–	3,009
Durham West		Lib		Lib	1,672	50.04%	3	0.09%	73.78%	1,672	1,669	–	–	–	3,341
Elgin East		Con		Lib	1,873	51.23%	90	2.46%	67.51%	1,873	1,783	–	–	–	3,656
Elgin West		Lib		Con	2,315	50.47%	43	0.94%	69.49%	2,272	2,315	–	–	–	4,587
Essex North		Con		Lib	1,729	51.17%	79	2.34%	58.70%	1,729	1,650	–	–	–	3,379
Essex South		Lib		Lib	2,497	53.80%	353	7.61%	77.51%	2,497	2,144	–	–	–	4,641
Frontenac		Con		Con	1,218	58.53%	355	17.06%	58.79%	863	1,218	–	–	–	2,081
Glengarry		Lib		Lib	1,723	50.47%	32	0.94%	76.91%	1,723	1,691	–	–	–	3,414
Grenville	New			Con	1,978	57.84%	550	16.08%	63.64%	1,428	1,978	–	14	–	3,420
Grey Centre		Con		Con	1,485	44.29%	112	3.34%	59.07%	1,373	1,980[8]	–	–	–	3,353
Grey North		Con		Con	2,076	50.22%	18	0.44%	67.75%	2,058	2,076	–	–	–	4,134
Grey South		Con		Con	2,087	53.23%	253	6.45%	71.17%	1,834	2,087	–	–	–	3,921
Haldimand		Lib		Lib	1,936	53.67%	265	7.35%	72.77%	1,936	1,671	–	–	–	3,607
Halton		Con		Con	2,277	51.38%	122	2.75%	73.07%	2,155	2,277	–	–	–	4,432
Hamilton		Lib		Lib	3,068	44.53%	435	6.31%	63.12%	3,068	2,633	1,188	–	–	6,889
Hastings East		Con		Con	1,784	51.53%	106	3.06%	84.87%	1,678	1,784	–	–	–	3,462
Hastings North		Con		Con	1,863	62.88%	763	25.75%	63.71%	1,100	1,863	–	–	–	2,963
Hastings West		Lib		Con	1,681	51.83%	119	3.67%	64.50%	1,562	1,681	–	–	–	3,243
Huron East		Lib		Lib	2,306	55.31%	443	10.63%	73.33%	2,306	1,863	–	–	–	4,169
Huron South		Lib		Lib	2,313	56.15%	507	12.31%	66.45%	2,313	1,806	–	–	–	4,119
Huron West		Lib		Lib	2,358	53.85%	337	7.70%	68.25%	2,358	2,021	–	–	–	4,379
Kent East		Lib		Lib	2,302	57.21%	580	14.41%	58.00%	2,302	1,722	–	–	–	4,024
Kent West		Con		Con	2,208	50.17%	15	0.34%	57.03%	2,193	2,208	–	–	–	4,401
Kingston		Con		Con	1,853	53.57%	247	7.14%	66.03%	1,606	1,853	–	–	–	3,459
Lambton East		Lib		Lib	2,270	52.78%	239	5.56%	70.43%	2,270	2,031	–	–	–	4,301
Lambton West		Lib		Lib	2,541	54.88%	452	9.76%	60.90%	2,541	–	2,089	–	–	4,630
Lanark North		Lib		Lib	1,392	51.71%	92	3.42%	67.24%	1,392	1,300	–	–	–	2,692
Lanark South		Ind		Con	1,836	56.44%	419	12.88%	72.99%	1,417	1,836	–	–	–	3,253
Leeds	New			Con	1,964	54.86%	348	9.72%	70.27%	1,616	1,964	–	–	–	3,580
Lennox		Con		Con	1,627	51.63%	103	3.27%	74.89%	1,524	1,627	–	–	–	3,151
Lincoln		Lib		Lib	2,242	50.17%	15	0.34%	63.58%	2,242	2,227	–	–	–	4,469
London		Con		Con	1,679	53.56%	223	7.11%	40.48%	–	1,679	1,456	–	–	3,135
Middlesex East		Lib		Con	2,621	51.04%	107	2.08%	70.38%	2,514	2,621	–	–	–	5,135
Middlesex North		Lib		Lib	2,044	50.88%	71	1.77%	74.22%	2,044	1,973	–	–	–	4,017
Middlesex West		Con		Lib	2,021	52.53%	195	5.07%	72.05%	2,021	1,826	–	–	–	3,847
Monck		Lib		Lib	1,643	51.78%	113	3.56%	72.06%	1,643	1,530	–	–	–	3,173
Muskoka	New			Con	1,565	53.84%	223	7.67%	72.90%	1,342	1,565	–	–	–	2,907
Norfolk North		Lib		Lib	1,640	56.51%	378	13.03%	70.14%	1,640	1,262	–	–	–	2,902
Norfolk South		Con		Con	1,528	52.11%	124	4.23%	78.29%	1,404	1,528	–	–	–	2,932
Northumberland East		Lib		Con	2,204	50.59%	51	1.17%	72.55%	2,153	2,204	–	–	–	4,357
Northumberland West		Con		Lib	1,710	58.06%	475	16.13%	69.90%	1,710	1,235	–	–	–	2,945
Ontario North		Lib		Lib	2,006	51.86%	144	3.72%	72.89%	2,006	1,862	–	–	–	3,868
Ontario South		Lib		Lib	2,651	52.30%	233	4.60%	69.31%	2,651	2,418	–	–	–	5,069
Ottawa		Con		Lib	1,815	53.97%	277	8.24%	53.32%	1,815	1,538	–	–	10	3,363
Oxford North		Lib		Lib	1,981	63.31%	833	26.62%	49.29%	1,981	1,148	–	–	–	3,129
Oxford South		Lib		Lib	2,216	54.23%	590	14.44%	65.85%	2,460[9]	1,626	–	–	–	4,086
Parry Sound	New			Ind	1,199	51.88%	87	3.76%	58.48%	–	1,112	–	–	1,199	2,311
Peel		Lib		Lib	2,102	52.76%	220	5.52%	73.63%	2,102	1,882	–	–	–	3,984
Perth North		Con		Con	2,445	50.43%	42	0.87%	69.96%	2,403	2,445	–	–	–	4,848
Perth South		Lib		Lib	2,385	55.26%	454	10.52%	72.27%	2,385	1,931	–	–	–	4,316
Peterborough East		Lib		Lib	1,438	56.15%	340	13.28%	67.49%	1,438	1,098	–	–	25	2,561
Peterborough West		Con		Lib	1,555	50.54%	33	1.07%	73.94%	1,555	1,522	–	–	–	3,077
Prescott		Lib		Lib	1,665	52.24%	143	4.49%	69.25%	3,187[10]	–	–	–	–	3,187
Prince Edward		I-Lib		Lib	2,155	50.96%	81	1.92%	72.58%	2,155	2,074	–	–	–	4,229
Renfrew North		Lib		Lib	1,515	51.46%	86	2.92%	72.90%	1,515	1,429	–	–	–	2,944
Renfrew South		Lib		Lib	1,050	45.85%	9	0.39%	59.20%	2,091[11]	199	–	–	–	2,290
Russell		Con		Lib	1,908	51.41%	148	3.99%	61.05%	1,908	1,760	–	–	43	3,711
Simcoe Centre	New			Lib	1,366	54.10%	207	8.20%	62.48%	1,366	1,159	–	–	–	2,525
Simcoe East		Lib		Lib	1,805	53.15%	214	6.30%	62.16%	1,805	1,591	–	–	–	3,396
Simcoe West		Lib		Con	1,498	56.70%	354	13.40%	56.82%	1,144	1,498	–	–	–	2,642
Victoria East	New			Con	1,733	55.16%	324	10.31%	67.66%	1,409	1,733	–	–	–	3,142
Victoria West	New			Con	1,438	50.17%	10	0.35%	65.49%	1,428	1,438	–	–	–	2,866
Waterloo North		Lib		Lib	acclaimed
Waterloo South		Lib		Lib	2,353	55.27%	449	10.55%	n/a	2,353	1,904	–	–	–	4,257
Welland		Lib		Lib	2,462	53.16%	293	6.33%	68.00%	2,462	2,169	–	–	–	4,631
Wellington East		Lib		Lib	acclaimed
Wellington South		Lib		Lib	2,120	59.40%	671	18.80%	62.34%	2,120	1,449	–	–	–	3,569
Wellington West		Lib		Lib	1,633	55.00%	297	10.00%	62.08%	1,633	1,336	–	–	–	2,969
Wentworth North		Lib		Lib	1,480	59.82%	486	19.64%	67.13%	1,480	994	–	–	–	2,474
Wentworth South		Lib		Lib	1,476	51.92%	109	3.83%	82.48%	1,476	1,367	–	–	–	2,843
York East		Lib		Lib	1,633	65.29%	765	30.59%	56.51%	1,633	–	–	–	868	2,501
York North		Lib		Lib	2,220	62.41%	883	24.82%	56.54%	2,220	1,337	–	–	–	3,557
York West		Con		Lib	1,539	53.12%	181	6.25%	62.51%	1,539	1,358	–	–	–	2,897

= open seat

= turnout is above provincial average

= winning candidate was in previous Legislature

= incumbent had switched allegiance

= previously incumbent in another riding

= not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature

= incumbency arose from byelection gain

= incumbency arose from prior election result being overturned by the court

= other incumbents renominated

= previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada

= multiple candidates

|-! colspan=2 | Political party! Candidate! Votes! %! Elected! Incumbent|-|style="text-align:left;"|Edward Frederick Clarke|7,032 ||26.28|style="text-align:center;"||-|style="text-align:left;"|Henry Edward Clarke|6,883 ||25.72|style="text-align:center;"||style="text-align:center;"||-|style="text-align:left;"|John Leys|5,380 ||20.11|style="text-align:center;"||-|style="text-align:left;"|Charles March|4,055 ||15.15|-|style="text-align:left;"|John Roney|3,408 ||12.74|-!colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Majority^[12] |1,325 ||4.96|-!colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Turnout^[13] |14,916 ||44.80|-!colspan="3" style="text-align:right;"|Registered voters|33,296|}

Analysis

Party candidates in 2nd place^[14]

Party in 1st place		Party in 2nd place					Total
			Lib	Con	Lab	Ind
4	2	48	1	1	56
1	28		1		30
		1			1
Total		5	30	49	2	1	87

Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party

Parties	Accl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th
	4	52	30	2
	1	30	50	2
		1	1	3
			2	1	1	1
				1

Source !!colspan="4"

Party
align="center"	Lib	align="center"	Con	align="center"	Ind	Total
Seats retained	Incumbents returned	30	13		44
	Returned by acclamation	2	1		3
	Open seats held	7	2		9
	Byelection loss reversed		1		1
	Defeated by same-party candidate	2	1		3
Seats changing hands	Incumbents defeated	3	3		6
	Open seats gained	6	3		9
	Byelection gains held	1			1
	Incumbent changed allegiance		1		1
New seats	Acclaimed	2			2
	New MLAs	2	2	1	5
	Previously incumbent in another riding	1	3		4
Toronto seats	MLA returned		1		1
	New MLAs	1	1		2
Total		57	32	1	90

MLAs elected by region and riding

Party designations are as follows:

Northern Ontario

Ottawa Valley

Saint Lawrence Valley

Central Ontario

Georgian Bay

Wentworth/Halton/Niagara

Midwestern Ontario

Southwestern Ontario

Peel/York/Ontario

See also

• Politics of Ontario
• List of Ontario political parties
• Premier of Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)

Notes and references

References

Notes and References

1. Rambaut. Thomas D.. 1887. The Hudson's Bay Half-Breeds and Louis Riel's Rebellions. Political Science Quarterly. 2. 1. 135–167. 10.2307/2139321. 2139321.
2. 1921 Special House of Commons Committee on pro-rep. report, p. 12
3. The Franchise and Representation Act, 1885. S.O.. 1885. 2. 8, 10. https://archive.org/details/statutesofprovin1885onta/page/n15/mode/2up.
4. Returning three members. Each elector had two votes to cast.
5. Web site: 1886 general election results. . Elections Ontario. November 22, 2023.
6. excluding Toronto, a multi-member constituency
7. order is as given in EO reports
8. the incumbent Neil McColman received 495 votes
9. the incumbent George Atwell Cooke received 244 votes
10. [Alfred Évanturel]
11. the incumbent John Francis Dowling received 1,041 votes
12. plurality for third winning candidate
13. actual number of voters per returns
14. excluding Toronto seats