1923 Prince Edward Island general election

July 24, 1923 (1923-07-24)
All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader James D. Stewart John Howatt Bell Party Conservative Liberal Leader since 1921 1915 Leader's seat 5th Kings 4th Prince (lost) Last election 5 seats, 44.8% 24 seats, 53.5% Seats won 25 5 Seat change 20 19 Popular vote 27,143 22,884 Percentage 52.3% 44.1% Swing 7.5pp 9.4pp
Premier before election John Howatt Bell Liberal Premier after election James D. Stewart Conservative

The 1923 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on July 24, 1923.^[1]

The opposition Conservatives led by James D. Stewart gained many seats to defeat the incumbent government of Liberal Premier John Howatt Bell.

This election had a number of firsts for PEI. It was the first election in which women on the Island could vote, following legislation passed in 1921.^[2]

It also featured the first organized third party in a PEI election, when local members of the Progressive Party ran four candidates in three Prince County districts and collected just over 2% of the vote.

Party Standings

Members Elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district, while Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district.^[3]

Sources

Further reading

• Hopkins, J. Castell (1924). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1923. Toronto: The Annual Review.