Electoral history of Arthur Meighen

The article is the electoral history of Arthur Meighen, the ninth

A

He led his party in three general elections and lost all three to King. Appointed to the Senate in 1932, he attempted an electoral come-back in 1942, but was defeated in his attempt to re-enter Parliament.

Meighen stood for election to the House of Commons of Canada nine times, winning six times and losing three times. He was acclaimed once. His defeat in his constituency in the 1921 election was the first time in Canada that a sitting prime minister lost his seat. He lost his seat again in the 1926 election, becoming the only sitting Canadian prime minister to lose his seat twice (Mackenzie King lost his seat twice while prime minister in 1925 and 1945 but did not resign).

Summary

Meighen ranks seventeenth out of twenty-three prime ministers for

Meighen was the second of four prime ministers to serve non-consecutive terms, the others being Sir John A. Macdonald, King, and Pierre Trudeau.

Meighen is the only prime minister from Manitoba.

Meighen served in several positions in the government of

Meighen served in the Senate of Canada from 1932 to 1942.^[3]

In 1942, Meighen attempted a political comeback and was elected leader of the Conservatives. He stood for election in a by-election, but was defeated. He resigned the leadership and retired from politics.^[2]

Meighen began his political career in the federal election of 1908. He stood for election to the House of Commons of Canada nine times (1908, 1911 1913, 1917, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, and 1942), primarily in the constituency of Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. He was elected six times (1908, 1911, 1913, 1917, 1922 and 1925) and defeated three times (1921, 1926 and 1942).^[3]

Federal general elections, 1921 to 1926

Meighen led the Conservative Party in three general elections (1921, 1925 and 1926). He lost all three to Mackenzie King although King technically lost the 1925 election.

Canadian federal election, 1921

Meighen called the election the year after he was appointed prime minister. King won a razor-thin majority and was able to form a government with the support of members of the

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Prime Minister after the election.
² Prime Minister when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Canadian federal election, 1925

The 1925 election was called by Prime Minister King. Meighen and the

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
² Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after the election.
³ Rounding error.

Canadian federal election, 1926

This general election was called on the advice of

. Meighen failed to win his seat and resigned immediately as Leader of the Opposition.

Canadian federal election, 1926 – Parties, leaders, seats won and popular vote

Party		Leaders	Seats won	Popular vote
	Liberal	W. L. Mackenzie King1	116	42.9%
	Liberal-Conservative	Arthur Meighen2	91	45.4%
	Progressive	–	11	3.9%
	United Farmers of Alberta	–	11	1.9%
	Liberal–Progressive	Robert Forke	8	1.9%
	Labour	–	4	1.7%
	Independents	–	2	0.8%
	Independent Liberal	–	1	0.6%
	United Farmers of Ontario	–	1	0.2%
Total			245	99.3%4
Sources: History of Federal Ridings since 1867

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Prime Minister after election.
² Prime Minister when election was called; defeated in his constituency and did not become Leader of the Opposition.
³ Less than 0.05% of the popular vote.
⁴ Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.

Federal constituency elections, 1908 to 1942

Meighen stood for election to the House of Commons nine times, in two different provinces (Manitoba and Ontario), in three different ridings. He was elected six times and defeated three times.

1908 Federal election: Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie

, Manitoba

Party		Candidate	Popular vote	%
	Conservative	Arthur Meighen	3,144	52.1%
	Liberal	X John Crawford	2,894	47.9%
Total			6,038	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Portage La Prairie

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1911 Federal election: Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie

, Manitoba

Party		Candidate	Popular vote	%
	Conservative	X Arthur Meighen	3,267	55.8%
	Liberal	Robert Paterson	2,592	44.2%
Total			5,859	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Portage La Prairie

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1913 Federal ministerial by-election: Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie, Manitoba
On Mr. Meighen being appointed Solicitor General

, June 26, 1913

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Conservative	X Arthur Meighen	Acclaimed	–
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Waterloo North

Elected.
X Incumbent.

At this time, Members of Parliament who took a position with the Government had to stand for re-election, but it was customary for the other political party not to oppose the election.

1917 Federal election: Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie

, Manitoba

Party		Candidate	Popular vote	%
	Government (Unionist)	X Arthur Meighen	4,611	82.5%
	Opposition (Laurier Liberals)	Frederick Shirtliff	976	17.5%
Total			5,587	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Portage La Prairie

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1921 Federal election: Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie

, Manitoba

Party		Candidate	Popular vote	%
	Progressive	Harry Leader	4,314	50.2%
	Liberal-Conservative	X Arthur Meighen	4,137	48.2%
	Independent	Alexander Melville Bannerman	139	1.6%
Total			8,590	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Portage La Prairie

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1922 Federal by-election: Grenville

On the acceptance of an office of emolument under the Crown by the incumbent,

Federal

Grenville

, Ontario

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Liberal-Conservative	Arthur Meighen	4,482	50.5%
	Progressive	Arthur Kidd Patterson	2,820	49.5%
Total			1,761	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Grenville

Elected.

1925 Federal election: Portage La Prairie

Portage La Prairie

, Manitoba

Party		Candidate	Popular vote	%
	Conservative	Arthur Meighen	5,817	53.9%
	Progressive	X Harry Leader	4,966	46.1%
Total			10,783	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Portage La Prairie

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1926 Federal election: Portage La Prairie

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1942 Federal by-election: York South

On Mr. Cockeram's resignation, November 27, 1941, to allow Mr. Arthur Meighen to contest the seat.

Federal

York South

, Ontario

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Joseph W. Noseworthy	16,408	57.9%
	Conservative	Arthur Meighen	11,952	42.1%
Total			28,360	100.0%
Source: Library of Parliament – History of Federal Ridings since 1867: Grenville

See also

• Electoral history of Robert Borden - Meighen's first predecessor as leader of the Conservative Party and as prime minister.
• Electoral history of William Lyon Mackenzie King - Meighen's principal opponent in three general elections, alternating twice as prime minister.
• Electoral history of R. B. Bennett - Meighen's first successor as leader of the Conservative Party.

References

External links

• Library of Parliament: History of Federal Ridings since 1867