# 1891 Canadian federal election

The 1891 Canadian federal election was held on March 5, 1891, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 7th Parliament of Canada. It was won by the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald.
The main issue of the 1891 campaign was Macdonald's National Policy, a policy of protective tariffs. The Liberals supported reciprocity (free trade) with the United States. Canadian voters would return to the issue of free trade 20 years later in the 1911 federal election.
Macdonald led a Conservative campaign emphasizing stability, and retained the Conservatives' majority in the House of Commons. It was a close election and he campaigned hard. Macdonald died a few months after the election, which led to his succession by four different Conservative Prime Ministers until the 1896 election.
It was Wilfrid Laurier's first election as leader of the Liberals. Although he lost the election, he increased the Liberals' support. He returned in 1896 to win a solid majority, despite losing the popular vote.
The Nationalist Party won a seat in Quebec. Dorchester riding elected Cyrille-Émile Vaillancourt.

## National results

| Party | Party | Party leader | # of candidates | Seats | Seats | Seats | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote |
| Party | Party | Party leader | # of candidates | 1887 | Elected | Change | # | % | Change |
| | Conservative | John A. Macdonald | 187 | 87 | 97 | +11.5% | 332,961 | 42.96% | +2.80pp |
| | Liberal-Conservative | John A. Macdonald | 25 | 24 | 20 | -16.7% | 43,557 | 5.62% | -1.64pp |
| | Liberal | Wilfrid Laurier | 194 | 79 | 90 | +13.9% | 350,512 | 45.22% | +2.09pp |
| | Independent Conservative | Independent Conservative | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | 15,045 | 1.94% | +0.38pp |
| | Independent | Independent | 4 | 3 | 2 | -66.7% | 6,357 | 0.82% | -0.42pp |
| | Nationalist | | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | -$^1$ | 0.00% | -0.66pp |
| | Independent Liberal | Independent Liberal | 2 | 5 | 1 | -80% | 5,573 | 0.72% | -1.45pp |
| | Nationalist Conservative | | 1 | 2 | 1 | -50% | 1,271 | 0.16% | -0.32pp |
| | Unknown | Unknown | 14 | 1 | - | -100% | 16,890 | 2.18% | -1.15pp |
| | Equal Rights | | 2 | * | - | * | 2,455 | 0.32% | * |
| | Progressive$^2$ | | 2 | * | - | * | 468 | 0.06% | * |
| Total | Total | Total | 436 | 205 | 215 | +4.9% | 775,089 | 100% | |
| Sources: http://www.elections.ca -- History of Federal Ridings since 1867 ||||||||||
Notes:
* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.
$^1$ One Nationalist candidate was elected by acclamation.
$^2$ The Parliamentary website identifies two candidates in Nova Scotia as being "Progressives". This may be an error.
Acclamations:
The following Members of Parliament were elected by acclamation;
* British Columbia: 1 Conservative, 1 Liberal-Conservative
* Manitoba: 1 Conservative
* Ontario: 1 Conservative
* Quebec: 1 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Nationalist

## Results by province

| Party name | Party name | Party name | BC | NWT | MB | ON | QC | NB | NS | PE | Total |
| | Conservative | Seats: | 5 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 24 | 10 | 12 | 2 | 97 |
| | Conservative | Popular vote (%): | 71.6 | 81.0 | 12.6 | 42.2 | 45.4 | 48.9 | 41.9 | 48.5 | 43.0 |
| | Liberal-Conservative | Seats: | 1 | | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 4 | | 20 |
| | Liberal-Conservative | Vote (%): | | | 40.5 | 5.3 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 10.8 | | 5.6 |
| | Liberal | Seats: | - | - | 1 | 44 | 33 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 90 |
| | Liberal | Vote (%): | 28.4 | 19.0 | 46.9 | 49.1 | 45.9 | 41.3 | 43.6 | 41.0 | 45.2 |
| | Independent Conservative | Seats: | | | | 1 | 2 | | | | 3 |
| | Independent Conservative | Vote (%): | | | | 1.3 | 5.9 | | | | 1.9 |
| | Independent | Seats: | | | | 1 | 1 | - | | | 2 |
| | Independent | Vote (%): | | | | 0.7 | 1.2 | 3.2 | | | 0.8 |
| | Nationalist | Seats: | | | | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| | Nationalist | Vote (%): | | | | | - | | | | - |
| | Independent Liberal | Seats: | | | | | | - | | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent Liberal | Vote (%): | | | | | | 2.9 | | 10.5 | 0.7 |
| | Nationalist Conservative | Seats: | | | | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| | Nationalist Conservative | Vote (%): | | | | | 0.7 | | | | 0.2 |
| Total seats | Total seats | Total seats | 6 | 4 | 5 | 92 | 65 | 16 | 21 | 6 | 215 |
| Parties that won no seats: ||||||||||||
| | Unknown | Vote (%): | | | | 2.0 | 3.8 | | 3.1 | | 2.2 |
| | Equal Rights | Vote (%): | | | | 0.7 | | | | | 0.3 |
| | Progressive | Vote (%): | | | | | | | 0.5 | | 0.1 |