1932 Hamilton municipal election

Monday, December 5, 1932

Candidate John Peebles John Bell Party Independent Independent Popular vote 24,499 18,238 Percentage 57.32% 42.68%

Each of Hamilton's eight wards. Electors would send two Alderman per ward to City Hall in addition to four Controllers and one Mayor elected at-large.

Mayor before election John Peebles Independent Elected Mayor John Peebles Independent

The 1932 Hamilton municipal election was held on December 5, 1932 to select one Mayor, four Controllers, and sixteen members of the Hamilton, Ontario City Council, two from each of the city's eight wards. Voters also cast ballots for trustees for the public school board.^[1]

Campaign

Held during the economic depression of the 1930s, the election was marked by differences between two ideologically different groups. The Hamilton-branch of the Independent Labour Party stood on a social-democratic platform of advancing the rights of working people and trade unionists in the light of the economic situation of the time.^[2] Alternately, a number of candidates stood on a platform that advocated a classical liberal economic policy and referred to themselves as the Policy For 1933 slate.^[3] Each group ran candidates for the Board of Control and aldermen, but neither mayoral candidate identified as a member of either slate. Two Communist Party candidates stood in the traditionally working class Wards Seven and Eight in the city's north-end.

The city's Home Owners' Association endorsed candidates based on their policies and opposition to a council-manager system of municipal government. As a group of property owners, the association endorsed right-leaning candidates of whom a majority were also affiliated with the Policy for 1933 group.^[4]

The election was notable for the loss of five incumbent aldermen. Four of the aldermen were independents, three of whom were defeated by Policy for 1933 candidates. One Policy for 1933 alderman was defeated by an Independent Labour Party candidate in Ward Eight, the only instance of the party defeating a sitting right-wing alderman.^[5]

Mayor

Board of Control

Aldermen

Ward Seven

Summary of the December 5, 1932 Hamilton, Ontario Ward Seven Aldermanic Election

Affiliation		Candidate	Votes	Elected
	Independent	Thomas Lewington	1,940	Y
	Independent Labour	Samuel Clarke (incumbent)	1,905	Y
	Independent	Archie Burton (incumbent)	1,635
	Communist	Elizabeth Graham	725
	Independent Labour	Arthur Williams	723
	Independent	Thomas Keith	553
	Independent	Melville Johnson	396
Note: Candidate campaign colours are used as a visual differentiation between candidates and to indicate affiliation.
Sources: "How Aldermanic Candidates Ran", Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday, December 6, 1932, pp. 16.

References