1908 Prince Edward Island general election

November 18, 1908 (1908-11-18)
All 30 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 16 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Francis Haszard John A. Mathieson Party Liberal Conservative Leader since 1908 1903 Leader's seat 4th Queens 5th Kings Last election 22 seats, 54.1% 8 seats, 45.9% Seats won 17 13 Seat change 5 5 Popular vote 15,488 14,541 Percentage 51.6% 48.4% Swing 2.5pp 2.5pp
Premier before election Francis Haszard Liberal Premier after election Francis Haszard Liberal

The 1908 Prince Edward Island general election was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island on November 18, 1908.^[1]

The election was won by the governing Liberals, led by incumbent Premier Francis Haszard. Haszard had taken over from his predecessor, Arthur Peters, following his death in January 1908.

Haszard resigned as Premier in 1911 following appointment to the province's Supreme Court, and he was succeeded as Premier by H. James Palmer. Due to his designation as Premier, Palmer ran in a by-election in his district of 3rd Queens; traditionally, the Opposition does not run a candidate in these triggered by-elections, but the Conservatives did in the December, 1911 by-election and defeated Palmer in his own district.

The opposition Conservatives, led by John A. Mathieson, gained five seats in this election.

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.^[2]

Sources

Further reading

• Hopkins, J. Castell (1909). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1908. Toronto: The Annual Review Publishing Company.