The 1886 Quebec general election on October 14, 1886, to elect members of the 6th Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Parti National, a broad coalition formed and led by Honoré Mercier, that included the Parti libéral du Québec and nationalist defectors from the Conservative party. The Parti national got a large boost when Liberals and dissident Conservatives rallied in reaction to the hanging of Louis Riel in 1885, for which the federal Conservatives were held responsible by Quebec voters. The nationalists won a majority of seats against the Parti conservateur du Québec, led by John Jones Ross. A handful of Conservative dissidents remained independent of both parties.
The turnout was 63.96%.
Despite the electoral loss, the Conservative government did not resign; it hung on until the opening of the legislative session in January, hoping that the dissidents might return to the party in the meantime. Finally, on January 25, 1887, recognizing his inability to rally a majority, Ross resigned the party leadership in favour of Louis-Olivier Taillon. Taillon was unable to obtain the confidence of the legislature on its opening day, January 27, 1887, thus was obliged to tender his government's resignation to the lieutenant governor. Mercier became premier on January 29. Results
PartyParty Leader# ofcandidatesSeatsPopular Vote1881Elected% Change#%% Change Honoré Mercier 15 33 +120% 58 389 39.54% +0.6% John Jones Ross 49 26 -46.9% 68 141 46.19% -4.2% Independent Conservative 1 3 +200% 20 994 14.23% +3.2% Parti national Honoré Mercier - 3 - Other - - - Total 65 65 - 100%
Footnotes
See also List of Quebec premiers Politics of Quebec Timeline of Quebec history List of Quebec political parties 6th Legislative Assembly of Quebec
References