Canadian federal election, 1945
The 20th Canadian General Election (English 20th Canadian General Election, French 20e élection fédérale canadienne ) took place on 11 June 1945. Were elected 245 Members of the Canadian House of Commons (English House of Commons, French Chambre des Communes ). The Liberal Party of Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King triumphed despite considerable seat losses for the third time in a row.
The choice
The Liberal Party, which for ten years now formed the government and Canada led by the Second World War, emphasized in its election campaign, the country needed to remain stable government. In addition, the Liberals are the only party that was represented in all provinces in sufficient numbers and could therefore meet the needs of all regions. Although they lost more than eleven percent share of the vote and a third of their seats, but they remained due to the weakness of the opposition parties continue to drive sales force and missed the absolute majority seat just barely.
After severe election defeats in 1935 and 1940, the Conservatives moved more towards the center of the political spectrum. To this end, the Conservative Party merged with the provincial offshoots in the meantime resolved federal Progressive Party, from which the new Progressive Conservative Party was born. However, by John Bracken, the former Prime Minister of Manitoba, cited party failed to achieve significant success outside of Ontario. The success of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Social Credit Party remained largely on their strongholds, the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta, limited.
The turnout was 75.3 %.