Kent (Ontario federal electoral district)

This article is about the former federal electoral district. For the former provincial electoral district, see Kent (Ontario provincial electoral district). For the pre-Confederation electoral district, see Kent (Province of Canada electoral district).

Kent

Ontario electoral district
Defunct federal electoral district
Legislature	House of Commons
District created	1867, 1914
District abolished	1903, 1996
First contested	1867
Last contested	1993

Kent was a federal electoral district (riding) represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904, 1917 to 1968, and 1979 to 1997. It was located in the province of Ontario and was created by the British North America Act of 1867.

Geographic history

Kent initially consisted of the Townships of Chatham, Dover, East Tilbury, Romney, Raleigh, and Harwich, and the Town of Chatham. In 1882, the township of Chatham was excluded from the riding, and the village of Blenheim was added.

The electoral district was abolished in 1903 when it was redistributed between Kent East and Kent West ridings.

The electoral district of Kent was recreated from Kent West and Kent East in 1914, and consisted of the county of Kent, excluding the townships of Zone and Camden.

In 1924, it was redefined as consisting of the part of the county of Kent lying west or south of and including the Gore of Chatham, the township of Chatham and the river Thames, but excluding the town of Tilbury and the village of Wheatley.

In 1933, it was redefined as consisting of the county of Kent, excluding the townships of Camden, Gore of Camden, Gore of Chatham and Zone, and including the city of Chatham, the town of Tilbury and the village of Wheatley.

In 1947, it was redefined as consisting of the county of Kent, excluding the townships of Camden and Zone, and that part of the township of Chatham formerly known as the Gore of Chatham; but including the city of Chatham, the town of Tilbury and the village of Wheatley.

The electoral district was abolished in 1966 when it was redistributed between Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent ridings.

The electoral district of Kent was recreated a second time from Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent ridings 1976. It consisted of:

(a) the part of the County of Kent lying north and east and including the Township of Dover, the City of Chatham, the Township of Chatham and the Township of Howard to the shore of Lake Erie, and

(b) Indian Reserve No. 46 in the County of Lambton.

In 1987, it was redefined to consist of

(a) the part of the County of Kent lying north and east of and including the Township of Howard, the Township of Chatham, the City of Chatham, and the Township of Dover, and

(b) that part of the County of Lambton contained in Walpole Island Indian Reserve No. 46.

The electoral district was abolished in 1996 when it was redistributed between Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent—Middlesex ridings.

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of Parliament:

Parliament	Years	Member		Party
1st	1867–1872		Rufus Stephenson	Conservative
2nd	1872–1874
3rd	1874–1878
4th	1878–1882
5th	1882–1883		Henry Smyth
	1884–1887
6th	1887–1887		Archibald Campbell	Liberal
	1888–1891
7th	1891–1896
8th	1896–1900
9th	1900–1904		George Stephens
Riding dissolved into Kent East and Kent West
Riding re-created from Kent West and Kent East
13th	1917–1921		Archibald McCoig	Opposition (Laurier Liberals)
14th	1921–1922			Liberal
	1922–1925		James Murdock
15th	1925–1926		Alexander Dew Chaplin	Conservative
16th	1926–1930		James Rutherford	Liberal
17th	1930–1935
18th	1935–1939†
	1939–1940		Arthur Lisle Thompson
19th	1940–1945		Earl Desmond	National Government
20th	1945–1949			Progressive Conservative
21st	1949–1953		Blake Huffman	Liberal
22nd	1953–1957
23rd	1957–1958
24th	1958–1962		Harold Danforth	Progressive Conservative
25th	1962–1963		Sidney LeRoi Clunis	Liberal
26th	1963–1965		Harold Danforth	Progressive Conservative
27th	1965–1968
Riding dissolved into Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent
Riding re-created from Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent
31st	1979–1980		John Robert Holmes	Progressive Conservative
32nd	1980–1984		Maurice Bossy	Liberal
33rd	1984–1988		Elliott Hardey	Progressive Conservative
34th	1988–1993		Rex Crawford	Liberal
35th	1993–1997
Riding dissolved into Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent—Middlesex

Election results

Kent, 1867–1904

1872 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Rufus Stephenson	1,874
	Unknown	Wm. S. Stripp	1,730

1874 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Rufus Stephenson	1,895
	Unknown	Wm. S. Stripp	1,823

1878 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Rufus Stephenson	2,502
	Unknown	H. McMahon	1,969

1882 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry Smyth	2,223
	Unknown	Jas. Samson	2,066

On the election being declared void, 31 December 1883:

By-election on 29 January 1884
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Henry Smyth	2,548
	Unknown	James Samson	2,266

On Mr. Campbell being unseated, 17 November 1887:

By-election on 2 May 1888
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Archibald Campbell	2,679
	Conservative	Henry Smyth	2,585

1891 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Archibald Campbell	3,138
	Conservative	William P. Killackey	2,662

1896 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Archibald Campbell	3,315
	Conservative	W. Ball	3,158

1900 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	George Stephens	3,390
	Conservative	Theodore A. Smith	3,173

Kent, 1917–1968

1917 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Opposition (Laurier Liberals)	Archibald McCoig	7,402
	Independent Liberal	John Warcup Plewes	6,313

1921 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Archibald McCoig	11,093
	Progressive	Duncan Robert McDiarmid	7,211
	Conservative	Wm. Andrew Hammond	5,288

On Mr. McCoig being called to the Senate, 4 January 1922:

By-election on 19 January 1922
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	James Murdock	acclaimed

1925 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Alexander Dew Chaplin	8,396
	Liberal	James Rutherford	7,833
	Unknown	John Wesley Ward	4,461

1930 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	James Rutherford	12,179
	Conservative	Calvert Stanley Stonehouse	10,765

1935 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	James Rutherford	11,281
	Reconstruction	Frederick Arthur Leverton	7,588

On Mr. Rutherford's death, 27 February 1939:

By-election on 11 December 1939
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Arthur Lisle Thompson	acclaimed

1945 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Earl Desmond	12,706
	Liberal	William David Colby	10,490
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Duncan Robert McDiarmid	1,291

1949 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Blake Huffman	14,903
	Progressive Conservative	Earl Desmond	12,444
	Co-operative Commonwealth	Kenneth Simpson	949

1953 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Blake Huffman	15,532
	Progressive Conservative	Eugene King	10,496

1957 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Blake Huffman	13,977
	Progressive Conservative	Albert Evans Jolley	10,907
	Social Credit	Enos B. Brubacher	1,792

1958 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Danforth	17,348
	Liberal	Blake Huffman	13,005
	Social Credit	Enos B. Brubacher	661

1962 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Sidney LeRoi Clunis	15,362
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Danforth	14,280
	Social Credit	Harold G. Youcke	629

1963 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Danforth	15,381
	Liberal	Sidney LeRoi Clunis	15,179
	New Democratic	Larry Moore	924
	Social Credit	Donald Lawrence Heatherington	388

1965 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Harold Danforth	15,472
	Liberal	George Mickle	13,667
	New Democratic	Dianne Mary Fielding	1,231

Kent, 1979–1997

1979 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	John Robert Holmes	18,007
	Liberal	Fred Reinhardt	11,713
	New Democratic	Marie-France Wilkinson	5,047

1980 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Maurice Bossy	15,140
	Progressive Conservative	John Robert Holmes	14,293
	New Democratic	George McDermott	5,758

1984 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Progressive Conservative	Elliott Hardey	18,279
	Liberal	Maurice Bossy	13,027
	New Democratic	Derry McKeever	6,138

1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Rex Crawford	15,835
	Progressive Conservative	Elliott Hardey	13,835
	New Democratic	Leo Rustin	7,948
	Christian Heritage	Allan James	1,942

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Rex Crawford	23,216
	Reform	Arnold Broeders	5,618
	Progressive Conservative	Tom Suitor	5,017
	New Democratic	Aaron G. De Meester	1,370
	National	Victor Knight	1,014
	Natural Law	Marty Howe	146

See also

• List of Canadian electoral districts
• Historical federal electoral districts of Canada

External links

• Riding history 1867 to 1904 from the Library of Parliament
• Riding history 1917 to 1968 from the Library of Parliament
• Riding history 1979 to 1997 from the Library of Parliament