1886 Quebec general election

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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.

1886 Quebec general election

 1881
October 14, 1886
1890 

65 seats in the 6th Legislative Assembly of Quebec
33 seats were needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Honoré Mercier John Jones Ross
Party Liberal Conservative
Leader since 1883 1884
Leader's seat Bonaventure Councillor for Shawinigan
Last election 15 seats, 38.97% 49 seats, 50.38%
Seats won 33 26
Seat change Increase18 Decrease23
Popular vote 58,389 68,141
Percentage 39.54% 46.19%
Swing Increase0.57pp Decrease4.19pp

Premier before election

John Jones Ross
Conservative

Premier after election

John Jones Ross[n 1]
Conservative

The turnout was 63.96%.[1]

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.[2] 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

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Party Party Leader # of
candidates
Seats Popular Vote
1881 Elected % Change # % % Change
Liberal Honoré Mercier   15 33 +120% 58 389 39.54% +0.6%
Conservative 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%  
Popular vote
PCQ
46.19%
PLQ
39.54%
Others
14.23%
Seats summary
PLQ
50.77%
PCQ
40.00%
Others
9.23%

Footnotes

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  1. Following the election, John Jones Ross continued in office despite his party's minority of elected members. He resigned as party leader on January 25, 1887 in favour of Louis-Olivier Taillon, who was defeated in the legislature on January 27. Honoré Mercier was sworn in as premier on January 29.

See also

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References

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  1. "Élections Québec's history". Élections Québec.
  2. Munro, Kenneth. "Ross, John Jones". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved May 25, 2026.