Published on April 17, 2022 at 20:21
1872 ElectionThe 1871 General Election was the first election to the Ivonian Parliament. Fifteen Members of Parliament were elected from the provinces over a period of two weeks in January 1871, to elect the First Ivonian Parliament. Prior to the election, the Ivonian Assembly had passed the Government of Ivonia Act, 1870 which specified the electoral rules of the new Dominion. This led to the Boundary Review Committee of the Assembly to apportion fifteen seats among the five provinces as well as allot electoral wards to the newly created seats.
| Province | Seats |
|---|---|
| Southshore | 5 |
| North Bay | 2 |
| Westmoreland | 4 |
| South Yorkshire | 3 |
| New Anglia | 1 |
The Ivonian Assembly completed the prerequisite steps for the new electoral system and boundaries in late November 1870. Having finished this process, the Assembly voted to dissolve itself and head to elections in the last week of the month. Arthur Cartwright, having been chosen as the head of the Assembly following the Declaration of Dominion, went to the Governor-General on November 29, 1870 to request the formal dissolution of Parliament. The Governor-General obliged and laid out a period of voting to be held over the second two weeks of January 1871, with the date of counting and declaration of results to be Monday, January 23, 1871.
Two political parties had registered with the Electoral Commission ahead of the campaign - the Dominion Party led by Arthur Cartwright, and the Country Party led by Joseph Bissett. Cartwright was riding high after the successful creation of Dominion, and drew his support primarily from the urban, merchant class in Southshore. Joseph Bissett, a wealthy landowner from Westmoreland, founded the Country Party to advocate for the interests of the landed elite further afield from the capital of Whitaker.
The main issues in the campaign were economic in nature. The Dominion Party favored expanded trade with Britain and the other colonies, whereas the Country Party called for a more cautious strategy on trade and for protective tarrifs to be instituted.
The campaign began in earnest in early December 1870, with Arthur Cartwright and Joseph Bissett both making trips across the nation. With no prior election results to draw upon in these new boundaries, the parties concentrated on reaching the most voters rather than strategically targeting any particular seats. The two parties' strategies for the race were quite different from each other. Cartwright and the Dominion Party campaign extensively on his reputation as the man who secured self-governance for Ivonia. They called for an investment in the port and shipping infrastructure in the natio, improvements which would be appreciated by the Dominion Party's primarily merchant class supporters. In contrast, Bissett focused exclusively on the issue of tariffs which he said would protect the agricultural and mining industries of Ivonia from foreign competition. The Country Party did not focus too much on Bissett himself, a move likely the result of his upper class background in comparison to the mainly rural, lower class supporter base for the party.
Polling was still very much a nascent field at the time of the election, but one survey conducted by the Whitaker Herald indicated that the Dominion Party was viewed favorably by 59% of voters, as compared with only 54% for the Country Party. Many figures in the Ivonian political establishment expected the Dominion Party to secure at least a simple majority, if not stronger.
When counting began on January 23, 1871, the close nature of the results came as a surprise to those following the race. Small margins in the seats of Fort William and Westgate Centre prevented the election from being called until the early hours of January 24, 1871. In the end, the Country Party secured eight seats in the election, winning a bare majority of one over the Dominion Party. The closest seats were Fort William and Westgate Centre, with margins of approximately two thousand votes separating the elected Country Party MPs from their Dominion Party opponents. These razor thin margins allowed the Country Party to win the election in an upset, defeating Arthur Cartwright despite his personal popularity. Arthur Cartwright himself was elected from Whitaker Centre, in Southshore, on a margin of 3.5%. Joseph Bissett, the new Prime Minister, was elected from the seat of Upper Coast in Westmoreland on a margin of 5.7%.
Joseph Bissett went to the Governor-General on the afternoon of January 24th and received his commission as the first Prime Minister of Ivonia. The inaugural session of the Ivonian Parliament met that Friday - January 27, 1871 and the Bissett Ministry was thus sworn in. The thinness of the majority left Bissett with no room for error in the new Parliament. The Dominion Party would go on to serve as an assertive opposition to Bissett, eager to take the fight to the next election and secure the victory they felt they had been deprived of.
| Party | Votes | Votes % | Seats | Seats % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | 784,281 | 49.35% | 8 | 53.33% |
| Dominion | 805,030 | 50.65% | 7 | 46.67% |
| Seat | Province | Current Holder | Raw Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitaker Centre | Southshore | Dominion | 6.97% |
| Whitaker Gate | Southshore | Dominion | 8.85% |
| East North Bay | North Bay | Dominion | 11.31% |
| Princeton East | South Yorkshire | Dominion | 11.66% |
| Princeton West | South Yorkshire | Dominion | 13.11% |
| Westgate Outer | Westmoreland | Dominion | 13.84% |
| West North Bay | North Bay | Dominion | 29.01% |
| Seat | Province | Current Holder | Raw Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fort William | New Anglia | Country | 1.78% |
| Westgate Centre | Westmoreland | Country | 2.16% |
| South York | South Yorkshire | Country | 5.24% |
| Sedgwick | Southshore | Country | 9.16% |
| Upper Coast | Westmoreland | Country | 11.39% |
| Port Henry | Westmoreland | Country | 13.22% |
| South Country | Southshore | Country | 17.82% |
| South Coast | Southshore | Country | 19.26% |
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 64,577 | 50.89% |
| Dominion | 62,317 | 49.11% |
The Country Party won the new seat of Fort William, after winning 50.89% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 1.78%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 74,041 | 55.65% |
| Country | 58,997 | 44.35% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of East North Bay, after winning 55.65% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 11.31%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 72,846 | 64.50% |
| Country | 40,088 | 35.50% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of West North Bay, after winning 64.50% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 29.01%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 51,265 | 55.83% |
| Country | 40,559 | 44.17% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of Princeton East, after winning 55.83% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 11.66%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 53,673 | 56.56% |
| Country | 41,228 | 43.44% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of Princeton West, after winning 56.56% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 13.11%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 57,209 | 52.62% |
| Dominion | 51,511 | 47.38% |
The Country Party won the new seat of South York, after winning 52.62% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 5.24%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 69,026 | 54.58% |
| Dominion | 57,437 | 45.42% |
The Country Party won the new seat of Sedgwick, after winning 54.58% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 9.16%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 42,573 | 59.63% |
| Dominion | 28,822 | 40.37% |
The Country Party won the new seat of South Coast, after winning 59.63% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 19.26%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 59,609 | 58.91% |
| Dominion | 41,578 | 41.09% |
The Country Party won the new seat of South Country, after winning 58.91% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 17.82%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 44,569 | 53.49% |
| Country | 38,758 | 46.51% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of Whitaker Centre, after winning 53.49% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 6.97%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 56,804 | 54.42% |
| Country | 47,569 | 45.58% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of Whitaker Gate, after winning 54.42% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 8.85%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 53,077 | 56.61% |
| Dominion | 40,681 | 43.39% |
The Country Party won the new seat of Port Henry, after winning 56.61% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 13.22%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 74,855 | 55.70% |
| Dominion | 59,546 | 44.30% |
The Country Party won the new seat of Upper Coast, after winning 55.70% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 11.39%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Country | 47,042 | 51.08% |
| Dominion | 45,052 | 48.92% |
The Country Party won the new seat of Westgate Centre, after winning 51.08% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 2.16%.
| Party | Votes | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Dominion | 64,888 | 56.92% |
| Country | 49,114 | 43.08% |
The Dominion Party won the new seat of Westgate Outer, after winning 56.92% of the vote. The seat now sits on a raw margin of 13.84%.