1919 Ontario general election

Hearst aimed to save money by holding the election on the same day as the scheduled referendum on prohibition.[4]

The parties had different strategies for fielding candidates. Only the Conservatives attempted to field a full slate, while the UFO focused on rural ridings, and the Liberals tried to avoid direct contests with UFO candidates.[4]

The UFO's leader, R.H. Halbert, did not campaign, as he had been elected to the House of Commons of Canada in an earlier by-election.[5] It had only two incumbent MPPs, Beniah Bowman and John Wesley Widdifield, who had entered the legislature by winning by-elections in Manitoulin and Ontario North.

The UFO emerged from the vote with the largest bloc of seats, joining the eleven Labour MLAs to form a coalition government. Liberal-UFO MLA David James Taylor of Grey North, "Soldier" MLA Joseph McNamara of Riverdale and Labour-UFO MLA Karl Homuth of Waterloo South were also members of the governing caucus giving Drury's coalition 58 seats in total, a slight majority.

The election had several sweeping results:[6]

• only about two dozen MPPs from the previous Legislative Assembly were re-elected;
• notably, Conservatives William Hearst and Sir Adam Beck were defeated by Labour candidates;
• three clergymen were elected;
• eighteen returned soldiers were elected; and
• all anti-Prohibition candidates were defeated.

Upon hearing the news of the Conservative defeat, Hearst noted:

I will not make any prophecy as to what will take place. I thought the Government was going to sweep the country, and I was not alone in that, for a great many Liberals who were supporting me thought so, too. The Temperance Act no doubt had a great deal to do with my defeat, but I did what I felt was right, and if I had it to do over again, I would do the same thing.[7]

Three days after the election, James J. Morrison, Secretary of the UFO, reported on the way he had addressed the need to form a working majority in the chamber. He released the following statement:

The members-elect of the United Farmers of Ontario, after due consideration of the matter, have decided that it would be unwise for them to enter into alliance with either of the old Parties as parties. They are prepared to assume the fullest share of responsibility and form a Government in co-operation with such members of other parties as are in sympathy with their platform and principles and are free to give support thereto. In the formation of a Cabinet full consideration will be given to the various interests of the Province.[8]

Ernest C. Drury agreed to lead the new government as Premier of Ontario,[8] and a UFO-Labour coalition cabinet was formed.[9] Although he was Vice-President of the UFO,[5] Drury had not been a candidate in the election[5] and had to run in a by-election to enter the legislature following his appointment to the office of Premier.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Hartley Dewart, maintained and increased the size of its caucus by a small number. The Conservative Party lost the most ground to the UFO and Labour.

• Politics of Ontario
• List of Ontario political parties
• Premier of Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)

• Hopkins, J. Castell (1920). The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1919. Toronto: The Annual Review.
• Scollie, Frederick Brent (2012). "The Woman Candidate for the Ontario Legislative Assembly, 1919-1929" (PDF). Ontario History. 104 (2): 1–27.
• Tennyson, Brian Douglas (1969). "The 1919 General Election in 1919: The Beginnings of Agrarian Unrest". Journal of Canadian Studies. 4 (1): 26–36. doi:10.3138/jcs.4.1.26.