1931 Quebec general election

The 1931 Quebec general election was held on August 24, 1931, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Camillien Houde.

1931 Quebec general election

← 1927August 24, 19311935 →

90 seats in the 18th Legislative Assembly of Quebec
46 seats were needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
 
LeaderLouis-Alexandre TaschereauCamillien Houde
PartyLiberalConservative
Leader since19201929
Leader's seatMontmorencyRan in Montréal–Saint-Jacques (defeated)
Last election74 seats, 59.33%9 seats, 34.31%
Seats won7911
Seat changeIncrease5Increase2
Percentage54.88%43.54%
SwingDecrease4.45ppIncrease9.23pp

Premier before election

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Liberal

Premier after election

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau
Liberal

It was the third general election victory in a row for Taschereau, who had held office since 1920.

Redistribution of ridings

An Act passed in 1930[1] increased the number of MLAs from 85 to 90 through the following changes:

Abolished ridingsNew ridings
Divisions of ridings
Creation of riding from parts of others

Campaign

The Liberals and Conservatives contested all 90 ridings, with 74 being two-way contests, and the remainder were three-way affairs.

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1931)[2]
CandidatesLibInd-GCon-GConLab-OppInd-OppInd-LibInd-ConIndLabTotal
27474148
316211621242248
Total902116212422196

Aftermath

The Conservatives initiated proceedings to attempt to quash up to 63 of the Liberal wins.[3] In one of the hearings, Houde confessed that he had personally furnished $60,000 towards the effort, but did not disclose where he had gotten the funds from.[3] In response, the Taschereau government passed the "Dillon Act",[4] which retroactively amended the laws governing the contesting of controverted elections, thus effectively gutting the ongoing actions.[5] When the Union Nationale subsequently gained power after the 1936 election, one of its first measures was to repeal this Act and restore the law to what it was before its passage.[6]

Results

This was the last election in which a candidate campaigned in multiple ridings. Camillien Houde was nominated in both Montréal–Saint-Jacques and Montréal–Sainte-Marie, and he lost both contests.[7]

Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec (1931)[2]
Political partyParty leaderMPPsVotes
Candidates19271931±#±%± (pp)
 Government candidates
 LiberalLouis-Alexandre Taschereau9074795 268,73280,045 54.884.46
 Independent22,7871,422 0.570.14
 Conservative1711New0.15New
 Opposition candidates
 ConservativeCamillien Houde909112 213,223104,118 43.549.23
 Labour211 1,6832,749 0.341.05
 Independent11062,579 0.020.82
 Other candidates
 Independent-Liberal211 1,0658,280 0.222.72
 Independent-Conservative4584New0.12New
 Labour24811,861 0.100.64
 Independent2323New0.06New
Total1968590489,695100%
Rejected ballots4,1901,347
Voter turnout493,885173,081 77.0114.10
Registered electors (contested ridings only)641,324131,389
Candidates returned by acclamation12
Popular vote
PLQ
54.88%
PCQ
43.54%
Others
1.58%
Seats summary
PLQ
87.78%
PCQ
12.22%

Synopsis of results

Results by riding - 1931 Quebec general election[2][8]
RidingWinning partyTurnout
[a 1]
Votes
Name1927PartyVotesShareMargin
#
Margin
%
LibConGovOppOtherTotal
 
AbitibiLibLib2,68563.42%1,30930.92%76.12%2,6851,3761734,234
ArgenteuilLibLib2,13055.70%43611.40%80.43%2,1301,6943,824
ArthabaskaLibLib3,59068.79%1,96137.57%84.86%3,5901,6295,219
BagotLibLib1,87852.96%2105.92%89.07%1,8781,6683,546
BeauceLibLib3,84753.77%1,25017.47%82.82%3,8472,5977117,155
BeauharnoisLibLib2,31151.65%1483.31%82.58%2,3112,1634,474
BellechasseLibLib2,83967.82%1,49235.64%84.44%2,8391,3474,186
BerthierLibLib2,47957.45%64314.90%87.94%2,4791,8364,315
BonaventureLibLib3,93358.91%1,19017.83%91.58%3,9332,7436,676
BromeLibLib1,47250.43%250.86%84.52%1,4721,4472,919
ChamblyLibCon2,83455.72%58211.44%73.15%2,2522,8345,086
ChamplainLibLib3,12553.91%4537.81%87.18%3,1252,6725,797
Charlevoix—SaguenayLibLib4,22359.29%1,32318.57%81.96%4,2232,9007,123
ChâteauguayLibLib1,66158.73%49417.47%80.99%1,6611,1672,828
ChicoutimiLibLib4,12343.58%1,44815.30%71.69%4,1232,6752,6639,461
ComptonLibLib2,65854.84%4699.68%83.63%2,6582,1894,847
Deux-MontagnesConCon1,64551.52%973.04%91.54%1,5481,6453,193
DorchesterLibLib3,25355.67%66311.35%85.53%3,2532,5905,843
DrummondLibLib2,84856.28%63612.57%82.06%2,8482,2125,060
FrontenacLibLib2,68760.57%93821.15%84.94%2,6871,7494,436
Gaspé-NordNewLib1,33060.40%45820.80%88.72%1,3308722,202
Gaspé-SudNewLib2,74455.80%57011.59%86.33%2,7442,1744,918
GatineauNewLib2,90654.87%75914.33%79.80%2,9062,1472435,296
HullConCon3,49160.84%1,24421.68%63.95%2,2473,4915,738
HuntingdonLibCon1,36153.29%1686.58%81.54%1,1931,3612,554
IbervilleLibLib1,30371.16%77542.33%79.02%1,3035281,831
Îles-de-la-MadeleineLibLib76950.26%80.52%80.88%7697611,530
Jacques-CartierLibLib4,14751.34%2162.67%77.62%4,1473,9318,078
JolietteLibLib3,08954.70%5319.40%88.46%3,0892,5585,647
KamouraskaLibLib2,63059.44%83518.87%82.21%2,6301,7954,425
L'AssomptionLibLib1,80161.20%78326.61%75.15%1,8011,0181242,943
L'IsletLibLib2,13160.40%73420.80%78.91%2,1311,3973,528
LabelleLibLib1,90257.92%52015.83%72.28%1,9021,3823,284
Lac-Saint-JeanLibLib2,05552.75%2145.49%80.84%2,0551,8413,896
LavalConLib8,69652.39%7924.77%72.43%8,6967,90416,600
LavioletteNewLib3,01056.11%65612.23%81.96%3,0102,3545,364
LévisLibLib3,59553.04%4126.08%86.43%3,5953,1836,778
LotbinièreLibLib2,95567.24%1,51534.47%81.85%2,9551,4404,395
MaisonneuveLabLib7,53849.67%1,53010.08%68.38%7,5386,0081,63015,176
MaskinongéLibLib1,91261.24%70222.49%81.47%1,9121,2103,122
MataneLibLib2,59255.86%54411.72%83.98%2,5922,0484,640
MatapédiaLibLib2,81362.57%1,13025.13%79.83%2,8131,6834,496
MéganticLibLib4,06063.09%1,68526.18%79.93%4,0602,3756,435
MissisquoiLibLib2,14154.83%3779.65%78.93%2,1411,7643,905
MontcalmLibLib1,76556.07%38212.13%91.29%1,7651,3833,148
MontmagnyLibLib2,10157.45%54514.90%78.94%2,1011,5563,657
MontmorencyLibLib1,94958.25%58117.36%89.28%1,9491,368293,346
Montréal-DorionConLib4,83152.80%5125.60%70.50%4,8314,3199,150
Montréal-LaurierLibLib3,56558.25%1,42623.30%61.85%3,5652,1394166,120
Montréal-MercierLibLib9,51359.45%3,20220.01%69.44%9,5136,31117716,001
Montréal–Saint-GeorgesConCon1,55351.37%832.75%55.27%1,4701,5533,023
Montréal–Saint-HenriLibLib3,95659.91%1,45522.04%74.77%3,9562,5011466,603
Montreal–Saint-Jacques[a 2]LibLib3,58356.34%80612.67%73.83%3,5832,7776,360
Montréal–Saint-LaurentLibLib2,63568.98%1,45037.96%83.41%2,6351,1853,820
Montréal–Saint-LouisLibLib2,78978.21%2,07758.24%62.08%2,789712653,566
Montreal–Sainte-AnneLibLib2,06954.38%68317.95%70.89%2,0691,3863503,805
Montréal–Sainte-Marie[a 2]LibLib4,98952.43%5155.41%74.10%4,9894,474539,516
Montréal-VerdunConCon7,07451.12%1,1328.18%64.60%5,9427,07482213,838
Napierville-LaprairieLibLib2,33758.67%69117.35%86.81%2,3371,6463,983
NicoletLibLib3,31657.91%1,01217.67%80.86%3,3162,3041065,726
PapineauLibLib3,55456.43%81012.86%79.55%3,5542,7446,298
PontiacLibLib2,16452.44%2014.87%75.40%2,1641,9634,127
PortneufLibLib3,74652.14%3084.29%84.80%3,7463,4387,184
Québec-CentreLibLib3,52254.95%6359.91%76.59%3,5222,8876,409
Québec-ComtéLibLib3,74754.66%6399.32%92.20%3,7473,1086,855
Québec-EstLibLib5,02157.67%1,33615.35%81.55%5,0213,6858,706
Québec-OuestLibLib1,64152.82%1755.63%80.82%1,6411,4663,107
RichelieuLibLib2,68555.13%53210.92%87.51%2,6852,153324,870
RichmondLibLib2,91559.81%95619.61%79.93%2,9151,9594,874
RimouskiLibLib2,45552.25%2114.49%87.80%2,4552,2444,699
Rivière-du-LoupNewLib3,77764.29%1,67928.58%81.64%3,7772,0985,875
RobervalNewLib2,73252.89%2995.79%88.00%2,7322,4335,165
RouvilleLibCon1,56250.23%140.45%88.06%1,5481,5623,110
Saint-HyacintheLibLib3,11558.78%93117.57%86.85%3,1152,1845,299
Saint-JeanLibLib2,38774.02%1,54948.03%74.72%2,3878383,225
Saint-MauriceLibLib3,57157.36%91614.71%82.38%3,5712,6556,226
Saint-SauveurLibCon3,91150.16%250.32%85.89%3,8863,9117,797
SheffordLibLib2,98952.94%3325.88%83.21%2,9892,6575,646
SherbrookeConLib4,11452.51%3945.03%76.69%4,1143,7207,834
SoulangesLibLib1,12058.89%33817.77%82.09%1,1207821,902
StansteadLibLib2,90758.59%85217.17%80.69%2,9072,0554,962
TémiscamingueLibLib2,06260.13%69520.27%77.71%2,0621,3673,429
TémiscouataLibLib1,67152.45%1564.90%87.57%1,6711,5153,186
TerrebonneLibLib4,74965.97%2,29931.93%81.15%4,7492,4507,199
Trois-RivièresConCon3,81250.27%410.54%82.96%3,7713,8127,583
VaudreuilLibLib1,38555.22%26210.45%83.83%1,3851,1232,508
VerchèresLibLib1,62360.04%54320.09%88.51%1,6231,0802,703
WestmountConCon8,94467.52%4,64235.04%45.04%4,3028,94413,246
WolfeLibLib1,90757.06%47214.12%85.04%1,9071,4353,342
YamaskaLibCon1,90952.10%1544.20%88.35%1,7551,9093,664
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = previously incumbent in another riding
  = other incumbents renominated
  = multiple candidates

Analysis

None of the third parties achieved a 1st- or 2nd-place result.

Resulting composition of the 18th Quebec Legislative Assembly[8]
SourceParty
LibConTotal
Seats retainedIncumbents returned56662
Open seats held1212
Byelection loss reversed11
Seats changing handsIncumbents defeated426
Open seats gained22
Byelection gain held11
New ridingsIncumbent returned in new seat22
New MPPs elected44
Total791190

See also

Further reading

  • The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1932. Toronto: The Annual Review Company. 1933.

References