Politics in the 1920s

Liberals• Laurier dies in 1919; new leader

appointed• William Lyon Mackenzie King– longest serving Prime Minister in Canadian

history (1921-1930, 1935-1948)–PM of first minority government– loyal to Laurier during conscription–master of compromise–born in Berlin, Ontario on December 17,

1874

Conservatives• Borden resigns from Conservative Party

in 1920• Arthur Meighen– appointed new party leader and PM of Canada–was responsible for anti-union laws as Minister

of Justice– not a compromiser– supported conscription, worked actively to

crush Winnipeg General Strike and favoured high tariffs

Progressives

• New political party consisting of mostly farmers• Supported low tariffs or free trade• Finished 2nd place in first election but

collapsed in 1922• Elected first female MP, Agnes

Macphail

1921 Election• Liberals defeat Conservatives but only

gained a minority government (won fewer than half of the seats in the House of Commons)– Liberals: 116 seats– Progressives: 64 seats– Conservatives: 50 seats– Independent: 3 seats– Labour: 2 seats

• First minority gvt in the history of Canada

• needed the support of another party to avoid a vote of non-confidence

• vote of non-confidence: a bill or suggested law does not receive a majority vote in the H of C. The gvt is defeated and PM and party must resign because it no longer has the vote of the elected officials.

• in order to secure leadership, King lowered tariffs....why?

1925 Election• King calls an early election to try to win a

majority gvt.• Surprising results:– Conservatives: 116 seats– Liberals: 99 seats– Progressives: 24 seats– Independent: 4 seats– Labour: 2 seats

• What happened?– Maritimers upset with Liberal policies so switched

their vote to Liberals

1925 Election cont...

• Conservatives win a minority government but do not gain support from other parties therefore losing leadership to Liberals

• Progressives and Independents supported King therefore King remained PM

• Byng-King Crisis– in late 1925, political scandals among the

Liberals cause Conservatives to threaten to call for a vote of non-confidence–King asks Governor General Byng to

dissolve gvt before Conservatives can do so–Byng denies request because there is a

chance that Meighen can form a gvt due to having the largest number of seats–Meighen’s gvt lasted less than 3 days!

(shortest-lived gvt in Cdn history–King calls an election!

1926 Election• King uses Byng’s refusal to accept his

advice and the fact that he is British to his advantage

• King played on Canada’s growing nationalism and ended up winning the election with a majority gvt

• Meighen resigned as leader of the Conservatives in 1927 after losing his own riding