# Claresholm (provincial electoral district)

Claresholm was a provincial electoral district in Alberta mandated to return a single member to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta using the first past the post method of voting from 1909 to 1929.

## History

Members of the Legislative Assembly for Claresholm :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| See Macleod electoral district from 1905-1909 |||||
| 2nd | 1909–1913 | Malcolm McKenzie | Liberal |
| 3rd | 1913–1917 | William Moffat | Liberal |
| 4th | 1917–1921 | Louise McKinney | Alberta Non-Partisan League |
| 5th | 1921–1926 | Thomas Milnes | Independent Farmer |
| 6th | 1926–1930 | Gordon Beverly Walker | United Farmers |
| See Nanton-Claresholm electoral district from 1930-1940 |||||
The Claresholm electoral district was formed prior to the 1909 Alberta general election from the northern portion of the Macleod electoral district. The electoral district would be renamed Nanton-Claresholm prior to the 1930 Alberta general election.
Malcolm McKenzie was elected the first MLA for Claresholm in the 1909 election, McKenzie was the incumbent, having been elected to the Macleod electoral district in 1905. McKenzie's margin of victory in Claresholm was much larger than he had achieved in 1905
Premier Arthur Sifton appointed McKenzie Provincial Treasurer. In keeping with the era's custom, McKenzie responded to the cabinet appointment by resigning his seat in the legislature to contest it in a by-election. Despite his previous wide margins, in 1912 he carried Claresholm by only 14 votes.
McKenzie's tenure as treasurer was not to last long: he caught a chill while attending the convention that nominated him as the Liberals' Claresholm candidate in the 1913 election, and by the time he returned to Edmonton on March 10, 1913, he was confine to bed. He had developed peritonitis, and died from it early in the morning of March 15.
In the 1917 Alberta general election, Louise McKinney became the first woman sworn into the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, and the first woman elected to a legislature in the British Empire. She served in the Alberta legislature from 1917 to 1921 as a member of the Non-Partisan League. McKinney defeating Liberal incumbent and former Mayor of Claresholm William Moffat. She was one of two women elected to the Legislative Assembly that year, the other being Roberta MacAdams. Later McKinney was one of the Famous Five who campaigned successfully for the right of Canadian women to be appointed to the Senate.
McKinney ran for a second term in the 1921 Alberta general election as a member of the United Farmers. She was defeated by Independent Farmer candidate Thomas Milnes.
The electoral district is named for the Town of Claresholm, Alberta.

## Election results
### 1900s

vte1909 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Malcolm McKenzie | 696 | 61.87% | – |
| | Conservative | J. F. Garrow | 429 | 38.13% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,125 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | N/A | N/A | – |
| | Liberal pickup new district. | Liberal pickup new district. | Liberal pickup new district. | Liberal pickup new district. | Liberal pickup new district. | Liberal pickup new district. | Liberal pickup new district. |
| Source(s) Source: "Claresholm Official Results 1909 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1910s

vteAlberta provincial by-election, May 27, 1912 Ministerial by-election upon Malcolm McKenzie's appointment as Provincial Treasurer :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Malcolm McKenzie | 651 | 50.54% | -11.33% |
| | Conservative | D. S. MacMillan | 637 | 49.45% | 11.33% |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,288 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | N/A | N/A | – |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | -11.33 |
| Source(s) "By-elections". elections.ab.ca. Elections Alberta. Retrieved June 24, 2020. |||||||
vte1913 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | William Moffatt | 496 | 51.08% |
| | Conservative | D. S. McMillan | 348 | 35.84% |
| | Independent | G. Malshow | 127 | 13.08% |
| Total | Total | Total | 971 | – |
| Source(s) Source: "Claresholm Official Results 1913 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||
vte1917 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Nonpartisan League | Louise McKinney | 839 | 55.60% | 42.52% |
| | Liberal | William Moffatt | 670 | 44.40% | -6.68% |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,509 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 1,884 | 80.10% | – |
| | Nonpartisan League gain from Liberal | Nonpartisan League gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | -2.02% |
| Source(s) Source: "Claresholm Official Results 1917 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||

### 1920s

vte1921 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent Farmer | Thomas Milnes | 809 | 51.46% | -4.14% |
| | United Farmers | Louise McKinney | 763 | 48.54% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,572 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | N/A | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | N/A | N/A | – |
| | Independent Farmer gain from Nonpartisan League | Independent Farmer gain from Nonpartisan League | Swing | Swing | -4.14% |
| Source(s) Source: "Claresholm Official Results 1921 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||
vte1926 Alberta general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | United Farmers | Gordon Beverly Walker | 939 | 68.99% | 20.46% |
| | Conservative | John R. Watt | 422 | 31.01% | – |
| Total | Total | Total | 1,361 | – | – |
| Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | Rejected, spoiled and declined | 148 | – | – |
| Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | Eligible electors / turnout | 2,009 | 75.11% | – |
| | United Farmers notional gain from Independent Farmer | United Farmers notional gain from Independent Farmer | Swing | Swing | 17.53% |
| Source(s) Source: "Claresholm Official Results 1926 Alberta general election". Alberta Heritage Community Foundation. Retrieved May 21, 2020. |||||||