# Toronto (provincial electoral district)

Toronto was an Ontario provincial electoral district that existed from 1886 to 1894. It was created by merging Toronto West and Toronto East ridings into one large riding covering the entire city.
It was abolished prior to the 1894 election when it was split into four new ridings - Toronto North, Toronto South, Toronto East and Toronto West.
The Toronto district elected three members. In each election voters were allowed to cast two votes; they were allowed to vote for two candidates (Limited voting). The three candidates with the most votes were the winners. Parties did not run more than two candidates, for fear of splitting their votes, so mixed representation was produced in each contest in the Toronto district in 1886 and 1890.(No one party took all the seats.)

## Members of Provincial Parliament

| Parliament | Years | Member | Party |
| Riding created from Toronto West and Toronto East in 1886 |||||
| 6th | 1886-1890 | Edward Frederick Clarke | Conservative |
| 6th | 1886-1890 | Henry Edward Clarke | Conservative |
| 6th | 1886-1890 | John Leys | Liberal |
| 7th | 1890-1894 | Edward Frederick Clarke | Conservative |
| 7th | 1890-1894 | Joseph Tait | Liberal |
| 7th | 1890-1892 | Henry Edward Clarke | Conservative |
| 7th | 1892 | Nelson Gordon Bigelow | Liberal |
| 7th | 1893-1894 | George Ryerson | Conservative |
| | | Sourced from the Ontario Legislative Assembly | |
| Riding split into four new ridings: Toronto North, Toronto South, Toronto East and Toronto West in 1894 |||||

## Election results

The first three candidates in the poll were elected to the legislature. Percentage of votes received does not indicate percentage of voters who favoured the candidate because most or all of the Toronto voters cast two votes.
1886 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Vote % |
| Conservative | Edward Clarke | 7,015 | 26.2 |
| Conservative | Henry Clarke | 6,873 | 25.7 |
| Liberal | John Leys | 5,390 | 20.1 |
| Labour | Charles March | 4,082 | 15.2 |
| Labour | John Roney | 3,416 | 12.8 |
| | Total | 26,776 | |
1890 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes |
| Conservative | Edward Clarke | 5,862 |
| Conservative | Henry Clarke | 5,542 |
| Liberal | Joseph Tait | 5,359 |
| Liberal | Alfred McDougall | 5,197 |
| Cons-Equal Rights | E.D. Armour | 4,502 |
| Cons-Equal Rights | Robert Bell | 4,001 |
| Equal Rights | Frank Moses | 703 |
| | Total | 31,166 |

### By-elections

These by-elections were held to replace members who had died in office. In each case only one member was elected for replacement.
By-election to replace Henry Edward Clarke, April 29, 1892 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Vote % |
| Conservative | Nelson Bigelow | 4,938 | 50.8 |
| Independent Conservative | Mr. Kent | 4,122 | 42.4 |
| Liberal | Thomas Phillips Thompson | 488 | 5.0 |
| Independent Liberal | E.A. MacDonald | 173 | 1.8 |
| | Total | 9,721 | |
By-election to replace Nelson Bigelow, February 28, 1893 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Vote % |
| Conservative | George Ryerson | 5,797 | 34.7 |
| Independent Conservative | W.W. Ogden | 5,535 | 33.1 |
| Liberal | Thomas Phillips Thompson | 5,392 | 32.2 |
| | Total | 16,724 | |