Alberta general election, 1905

The Alberta general election of 1905 was the first general election held in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on November 9 1905 to elect members of the Alberta legislature to the 1st Alberta Legislative Assembly, shortly after the province was created out of the Northwest Territories on September 1 1905.

The Alberta Liberal Party of Alexander C. Rutherford won twenty three of the twenty five seats in the new legislature, defeating the Conservative Party, which was led by a young lawyer, Richard Bennett, who later served as Prime Minister of Canada.

Prior to the 1905 election the two political parties saw numerous changes and defections, In Alberta a host of former Liberal-Conservative MLA's jumped ship to the Liberals, when Sir Wilfrid Laurier appointed the Liberal provisional government prior to the election. The Conservatives had no strong leader to rally around at the time as Frederick Haultain, had moved to Saskatchewan.

The election in 1905 was a bitter one, especially in Calgary and Southern Alberta where the Liberals were accused of vote tampering and interfering with Conservative voters. Recounts especially in Calgary took almost a month and saw the result swing back and forth. The scandal led to the arrest of some key Liberal organizers, including William Cushing's campaign manager, who had been a returning officer at a Calgary polling station.

Results

ee also

* List of Alberta political parties

References

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