Canadian federal election, 1872

The Canadian federal election of 1872 was held from July 20 to October 12, 1872, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 2nd Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald's Conservatives remained in power, defeating the Liberals.

Edward Blake, who had a seat in both the Canadian House of Commons and the Ontario legislature, resigned as Premier of Ontario in order to run in the 1872 federal election as dual mandates had been abolished. Had the Liberals won the election, he likely would have been offered the position of Prime Minister of Canada. The party had no formal leader as such until 1873 when Alexander Mackenzie was given the title after Blake declined due to ill health. Blake was ill during much of the 1872 campaign, and it was Mackenzie who essentially led the Liberal campaign in Ontario, though not outside of the province.

The 1872 election was the first general election participated in by the new provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba. In British Columbia's case special byelections had been held shortly after union with Confederation that filled the seats in 1871 - two were by acclamation (Cariboo and New Westminster) and so were virtually appointments, although elections were hard-fought in ridings where there were races. Of the six seats (in five ridings) two were won by acclamation in the election, whereas in the byelection five of seven members won by acclamation. British Columbia's second Premier, Amor De Cosmos, was elected alongside businessman Henry Nathan Jr. (both Liberals) in the two-member Victoria riding. Both were incumbents from being acclaimed in their seats by a special byelection the previous year. De Cosmos won another two elections before going down to defeat in 1882.

Voter turn-out: 70.3%

Results

National

Note:

¹ Liberal-Conservatives sat with the Conservative Party in the House of Commons.

Acclamations
The following MPs were acclaimed:
*British Columbia: 3 Liberal-Conservatives
*Manitoba: 1 Liberal-Conservative
* Ontario: 3 Conservatives, 3 Liberal-Conservatives, 10 Liberals
* Quebec: 9 Conservatives, 5 Liberal-Conservatives, 5 Liberals
* New Brunswick: 6 Liberals
* Nova Scotia: 1 Conservative, 4 Liberal-Conservatives, 2 Liberals

Results by province

For a list of candidates elected in the 1872 election, including by-elections held before 1874, see 2nd Canadian parliament.