1871 Ontario general election

The 1871 Ontario general election was the second general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on March 21, 1871, to elect the 82 Members of the 2nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs").

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Edward Blake, won a slim majority of the seats, and formed the government.

The Ontario Conservative Party, led by John Sandfield Macdonald, served as the official opposition.

Electoral reforms
Earlier in 1871, the Legislative Assembly passed an Act to give the courts jurisdiction to rule on petitions dealing with corrupt practices in elections.

In 1872, the Parliament of Canada passed an Act to compel MPs who were also members of a provincial legislature to resign such seats if they wished to stand again in a federal election. Five MLAs in the 1871 election were thus obliged to leave the Legislative Assembly in order to stand in federal ridings in 1872.

Results
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=4 | MLAs ! colspan=4 | Votes ! Candidates !1867 !1871 !± !# ! ± !% ! ± (pp)


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 76 || 41  || 43  || 2  || 68,366  || 9,323 || 52.30% || 3.54


 * style="text-align:left;"|
 * 73 || 41  || 38  || 3 || 59,926  || 20,185 || 45.85% || 4.44


 * || 1 || – || 1  || 1  || 1,116  || 1,116  || 0.85% || New

! colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" | Total ! " colspan="2"|88 ! " colspan="2"|130,711 ! " colspan="2"| 100.00%
 * || 9 || – || – || – || 1,303  || 220 || 1.00% || 0.04
 * 159||82
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Voter turnout
 * 130,711
 * 28,612
 * 62.93
 * 10.93
 * colspan="7" style="text-align:left;" | Registered electors
 * 207,717
 * 8,005
 * colspan="2"|
 * style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2" colspan="3" |Acclamations
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||7
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||8
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" |Other candidates receiving nil votes
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||2
 * }
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||8
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="3" |Other candidates receiving nil votes
 * style="text-align:left;" colspan="2" | ||2
 * }
 * }

Synopsis of results

 * = open seat
 * = turnout is above provincial average
 * = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
 * = incumbent had switched allegiance
 * = previously incumbent in another riding
 * = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
 * = incumbency arose from byelection gain
 * = other incumbents renominated
 * = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
 * = multiple candidates

MLAs elected by region and riding
Party designations are as follows:

{{legend|#EA6D6A|Liberal}} {{legend|#9999FF|Conservative}} {{legend|#DCDCDC|Conservative-Liberal}}


 * Northern Ontario
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Algoma: Frederick William Cumberland}}


 * Ottawa Valley
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Carleton: George William Monk }}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lanark North: Daniel Galbraith}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lanark South: Abraham Code}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ottawa: Richard William Scott}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Prescott: George Wellesley Hamilton}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Renfrew North: Thomas Deacon}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Renfrew South: Eric Harrington}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Russell: William Craig}}


 * Saint Lawrence Valley
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Brockville and Elizabethtown: William Fitzsimmons}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Cornwall: John Sandfield MacDonald}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Dundas: Simon S. Cook}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Glengarry: James Craig}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grenville South: Mcneil Clarke}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Kingston: William Robinson}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Leeds North and Grenville North: Henry Merrick}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Leeds South: Herbert Stone MacDonald}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Stormont: William Colquhoun}}


 * Central Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Addington: Hammel Madden Deroche}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Durham East: Arthur Trefusis Heneage Williams}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Durham West: Edward Blake}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Frontenac: Delino Dexter Calvin}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings East: Henry Corby}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings North: George Henry Boulter}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Hastings West: Ketchum Graham}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lennox: John Thomas Grange}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Northumberland East: William Wilson Webb}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Northumberland West: Alexander Fraser}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Peterborough East: George Read}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Peterborough West: Thomas McCulloch Fairbairn}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Prince Edward: Gideon Striker}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Victoria North: Duncan McRae}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Victoria South: Samuel Casey Wood}}


 * Georgian Bay
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Bruce North: Donald Sinclair}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grey North: Thomas Scott}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Simcoe North: William Davis Ardagh}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Simcoe South: Thomas Roberts Ferguson}}


 * Wentworth/Halton/Niagara
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Halton: William Barber}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Hamilton: James Miller Williams}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Lincoln: John Charles Rykert}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Monck: Lachlin McCallum}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Niagara: Stephen Richards}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Welland: James George Currie}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wentworth North: Robert Christie}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wentworth South: William Sexton}}


 * Midwestern Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Brant North: Hugh Finlayson}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Brant South: Edmund Burke Wood}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Bruce South: Edward Blake}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Grey South: Abram William Lauder}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Haldimand: Jacob Baxter}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron North: Thomas Gibson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Huron South: Robert Gibbons}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Norfolk North: John Fitzgerald Clarke}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Norfolk South: Simpson McCall}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Oxford North: George Perry}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Oxford South: Adam Oliver}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Perth North: Andrew Monteith}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Perth South: Thomas B. Guest}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Waterloo North: Moses Springer}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Waterloo South: Isaac Clemens}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wellington Centre: Charles Clarke}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wellington North: Robert McKim}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Wellington South: Peter Gow}}


 * Southwestern Ontario
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Bothwell: Archibald McKellar}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Elgin East: John Henry Wilson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Elgin West: Thomas Hodgins}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Essex: Albert Prince}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Kent: James Dawson}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Lambton: Timothy Blair Pardee}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|London: John Carling}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Middlesex East: Richard Tooley}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Middlesex North: James Sinclair Smith}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Middlesex West: Alexander Mackenzie}}


 * Peel/York/Ontario
 * {{legend|#DCDCDC|Cardwell: George McManus}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ontario North: Thomas Paxton}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Ontario South: Charles Godfrey}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Peel: John Coyne}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|Toronto East: Matthew Crooks Cameron}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|Toronto West: Adam Crooks}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|York East: Hugh Powell Crosby}}
 * {{legend|#9999FF|York North: Alfred Boultbee}}
 * {{legend|#EA6D6A|York West: Peter Patterson}}