1920 Nova Scotia general election

1920 Nova Scotia general election
← outgoing members members →
43 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly; 22 seats needed for a majority
Premier before election; George Henry Murray; Liberal	Premier after election ; George Henry Murray; Liberal

The 1920 Nova Scotia general election was held on 27 July 1920 to elect members of the 37th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The Liberal party won a majority of seats in the Legislaure with only 44 percent of the vote.

This was the first general election in which women could vote and run for office.^[1]

Members were elected in multi-member districts electing from two to five members each, through plurality block voting.

Results

Results by party

↓
29	6	5	3
Liberal	United Farmers	Labour	Liberal-Conservative

Official results ^[2]^[3]
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular vote
Party		Party leader	# of candidates	1916	Dissolution	Elected	Change	#	%	Change (pp)
	Liberal	George Henry Murray	40	30		29	-1	154,627	44.44%	-6.34%
	Liberal-Conservative	William Lorimer Hall	31	13		3	-10	81,044	23.29%	-25.11%
	United Farmers^[a]	Daniel George McKenzie	17	0		6	+6	47,798	13.74%	N/A
	Labour^[a]^[b]	None	12	0		5	+5	64,495	18.54%	+18.14%
	Vacant
Total valid votes								347,964	100.00%	–

Blank and invalid ballots								0	0.00%	–
Total			100	43	43	43	–	347,964	100.00%	–

Popular vote

Liberal			44.44%
Liberal-Conservative			23.29%
Labour			18.54%
United Farmers			13.74%

Seats summary

Liberal			67.44%
United Farmers			13.95%
Labour			11.63%
Liberal-Conservative			6.98%

Retiring incumbents

Liberal

Liberal-Conservative

Neil Ferguson, Cape Breton
James W. Kirkpatrick, Cumberland
Hector MacInnes, Halifax
Frank Stanfield, Colchester

Nominated candidates

Legend
bold denotes party leader
† denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election or was defeated in nomination contest

Valley

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Liberal-Conservative		United Farmers		Labour		Incumbent
Annapolis		Frank R. Elliott 3,330 27.90%				Vernon B. Leonard 2,512 21.05%				Frank R. Elliott
Annapolis		Orlando Daniels 3,630 30.41%				Edgar C. Shaffner 2,463 20.64%				Orlando Daniels
Digby		Henry W.B. Warner 2,997 30.93%				Glidden Campbell 1,835 18.94%				Henry W.B. Warner
Digby		Joseph William Comeau 3,165 32.67%				Emede Robicheau 1,692 17.46%				Joseph William Comeau
Hants				Albert Parsons 2,083 21.06%		John Alexander MacDonald 2,179 22.03%		Wiley V. Davison 998 10.09%		Albert Parsons
Hants		James William Reid 3,035 30.69%				Walter J. Aylword 1,594 16.12%				James William Reid
Kings		John Alexander McDonald 4,705 28.21%		James E. Kinsman 3,622 21.71%						James E. Kinsman
Kings		Harry H. Wickwire 4,917 29.48%		C.R. Bill 3,437 20.60%						Harry H. Wickwire

South Shore

Electoral district	Candidates						Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Liberal-Conservative		United Farmers	Labour	Incumbent
Lunenburg		John James Kinley 4,900 30.24%		Lemeau J. Hebb 3,237 19.98%				John James Kinley
Lunenburg		Aubrey Sperry 4,795 29.60%		Foster W. Verge 3,270 20.18%				Vacant
Queens		George S. McClearn 1,607 26.15%		William Lorimer Hall 1,485 24.17%				William Lorimer Hall
Queens		Jordan W. Smith 1,737 28.27%		Robert Smith 1,316 21.42%				Jordan W. Smith
Shelburne		Robert Irwin 1,917 28.64%		William T. Brannen 1,623 24.25%				Robert Irwin
Shelburne		Frank E. Smith 1,774 26.51%		Wendell H. Currie 1,379 20.60%				Frank E. Smith
Yarmouth		Ernest Howard Armstrong 3,052 31.55%		Howard Corning 3,416 35.31%				Ernest Howard Armstrong
Yarmouth		Amédée Melanson 3,207 33.15%						Vacant

Fundy-Northeast

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Liberal-Conservative		United Farmers		Labour		Incumbent
Colchester				Robert H. Kennedy 3,096 23.33%		Harry L. Taggart 3,430 25.84%				Robert H. Kennedy
Colchester				William R. Dunbar 3,213 24.21%		Robert Hunter Smith 3,533 26.62%				Frank Stanfield†
Cumberland		James Ralston 4,486 14.55%		Grace McLeod Rogers 2,470 8.01%				Archibald Terris 4,716 15.30%		James Ralston
		Varley B. Fullerton 2,659 8.63%		Percy L. Spicer 1,864 6.05%		Gilbert Nelson Allen 4,934 16.01%				James W. Kirkpatrick†
		Rufus Carter 3,215 10.43%		Everett C. Leslie 1,714 5.56%		Daniel George McKenzie 4,766 15.46%				Rufus Carter

Halifax

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Liberal-Conservative		United Farmers		Labour		Incumbent
Halifax		Adam Dunlap Burris 5,936 9.07%		John B. Archibald 4,045 6.18%		Joseph S. Wallace 3,409 5.21%		Ronald A. McDonald 3,369 5.15%		Hector MacInnes†
		John L. Connolly 5,817 8.89%		Robert A. Brenton 3,860 5.90%		Peter McN. Kuhn 3,165 4.83%		Patrick J. Healy 3,336 5.10%		John L. Connolly
		John Brown Douglas 6,057 9.25%		Frederick W. Stevens 3,642 5.56%				Joseph H. McKenzie 3,157 4.82%		George Everett Faulkner†
		Henry Bauld 6,554 10.01%		Francis A. Gillis 3,595 5.49%						Henry Bauld
		Robert Emmett Finn 6,285 9.60%		Edward L. Power 3,236 4.94%						Robert Emmett Finn

Central Nova

Electoral district	Candidates								Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Liberal-Conservative		United Farmers		Labour		Incumbent
Antigonish		Alexander Stirling MacMillan 1,725 23.65%				Angus J. MacGillivray 1,804 24.73%				Fred Robert Trotter†
Antigonish		William Chisholm 2,059 28.23%				Fred R. Irish 1,706 23.39%				William Chisholm
Guysborough		Clarence W. Anderson 2,359 30.36%				D.P. Floyd 1,483 19.09%				James F. Ellis†
Guysborough		James Cranswick Tory 2,619 33.71%				J.A. Dillon 1,309 16.85%				James Cranswick Tory
Pictou		Robert M. McGregor 6,056 15.78%		John Bell 4,416 11.51%		Alexander D. MacKay 5,984 15.59%		Henry D. Fraser 6,012 15.66%		Robert M. McGregor
		John Welsford MacDonald 6,287 16.38%						Bertha A. Donaldson 2,930 7.63%		Robert Hugh MacKay†
		Robert Henry Graham 6,696 17.45%								Robert Henry Graham

Cape Breton

Electoral district	Candidates							Incumbent
Electoral district	Liberal		Liberal-Conservative		United Farmers	Labour		Incumbent
Cape Breton		W.F. Carroll 6,471 9.08%		Neil R. McArthur 2,809 3.94%			Joseph Steele 9,800 13.75%		Neil Ferguson†
		A.B. MacGillivray 5,334 7.49%		A.C. MacCormick 2,749 3.86%			Arthur R. Richardson 9,177 12.88%		Vacant
		Daniel Alexander Cameron 5,729 8.04%		Ewen MacKay Forbes 2,343 3.29%			Forman Waye 9,407 13.20%		Daniel Alexander Cameron
		N. MacDonald 5,270 7.40%		Charles B. Smith 2,338 3.28%			D. W. Morrison 9,830 13.80%		Vacant
Inverness		Donald MacLennan 3,461 26.32%		Moses Elijah McGarry 2,643 20.10%			John J. McNeil 1,763 13.40%		Donald MacLennan
Inverness		John C. Bourinot 3,204 24.36%		Malcolm McKay 2,081 15.82%					John C. Bourinot
Richmond		G.H. Murray 1,761 24.35%		Benjamin Amedeé LeBlanc 1,823 25.20%					Benjamin Amedeé LeBlanc
Richmond		George R. Deveau 1,728 23.89%		John Alexander MacDonald 1,921 26.56%					John Alexander MacDonald
Victoria		George Henry Murray 2,078 32.42%		Guy McL. Matheson 1,109 17.30%					George Henry Murray
Victoria		Angus Gladstone Buchanan 2,013 31.41%		Phillip McLeod 1,209 18.86%					Vacant

References

^ History of Voting in Nova Scotia
^ "Nova Scotia Provincial Elections 1867-2016" (PDF). Elections Nova Scotia. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
^ "Electoral Districts- History". Nova Scotia Legislature. Retrieved December 22, 2021.

Notes

^ ^a ^b The United Farmers, Labour (the Independent Labour Party) and War Veterans co-operated with each other to run candidates. Candidates for the coalition were selected on the basis of which group was best represented in a riding.
^ 5 elected candidates includes one Farmer-Labour candidate which is listed here with the Labour tally.

v t e Elections and referendums in Nova Scotia
General elections	1867 1871 1874 1878 1882 1886 1890 1894 1897 1901 1906 1911 1916 1920 1925 1928 1933 1937 1941 1945 1949 1953 1956 1960 1963 1967 1970 1974 1978 1981 1984 1988 1993 1998 1999 2003 2006 2009 2013 2017 2021 2024
Municipal elections	1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Referendums	1929 2004
See also: List of Nova Scotia by-elections