The 1898 Ontario general election was the ninth general election held in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was held on March 1, 1898, to elect the 94 Members of the 9th Legislative Assembly of Ontario ("MLAs"). The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Arthur S. Hardy, won an eighth term in office with a clear majority – the Patrons of Industry and the Protestant Protective Association held no sway in this legislature. The Ontario Conservative Party, led by Sir James P. Whitney, formed the official opposition. Results |- ! colspan=2 rowspan=2 | Political party ! rowspan=2 | Party leader ! colspan=5 | MPPs ! colspan=3 | Votes |- ! Candidates !1894 !Dissol. !1898 !± !# !% ! ± (pp) |style="text-align:left;"|Arthur S. Hardy |91 |45 | |51 |6 |202,332 |47.29% |6.30 |style="text-align:left;"|James P. Whitney |90 |23 | |42 |19 |204,011 |47.69% |19.88 |style="text-align:left;"| |1 |– | |1 |1 |1,740 |0.41% | |style="text-align:left;"|Liberal-Patrons |style="text-align:left;"| |– |12 | |– |12 |rowspan="7" colspan="3"|Did not campaign |style="text-align:left;"|Conservative–P.P.A. |style="text-align:left;"| |– |5 | |– |5 |style="text-align:left;"|Joseph Longford Haycock |– |3 | |– |3 |style="text-align:left;"|Conservative-Patrons |style="text-align:left;"| |– |2 | |– |2 |style="text-align:left;"|Liberal-P.P.A. |style="text-align:left;"| |– |2 | |– |2 |- |style="background-color:#FF8000;"| |style="text-align:left;"|Protestant Protective Association |style="text-align:left;"| |– |1 | |– |1 |style="text-align:left;"| |– |1 | |– |1 |style="text-align:left;"| |18 |– |– |– | |19,683 |4.60% |2.10 |style="text-align:left;"| |1 |– |– |– | |57 |0.01% | |colspan="3"| | |colspan="5"| |-style="background:#E9E9E9;" |colspan="3" style="text-align:left;"|Total |201 |94 |94 |94 | |427,823 |100.00% | |- |colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Blank and invalid ballots |align="right"|3,601 |style="background:#E9E9E9;" colspan="2"| |-style="background:#E9E9E9;" |colspan="8" style="text-align:left;"|Registered voters / turnout |525,795 |82.05% |11.75 |} Seats that changed hands There were 50 seats that changed allegiance in the election: Conservative to Liberal Algoma West Haldimand Halton Kingston Lanark North Lennox London Northumberland East Perth North York West Liberal/Patrons of Industry to Liberal Bruce Centre Hastings East Kent West Middlesex North Parry Sound Perth South Conservative/PPA to Liberal Lambton West Muskoka Liberal/PPA to Liberal Bruce North Independent-Conservative/PPA to Liberal Lambton East Liberal to Conservative Grey North Hamilton East Hamilton West Hastings West Huron South Ontario North Ontario South Ottawa (1 MLA) Renfrew North Simcoe Centre Victoria West Waterloo North Waterloo South Wentworth North Liberal/Patrons of Industry to Conservative Elgin West Frontenac Glengarry Prince Edward Simcoe West Stormont Conservative/PPA to Conservative Durham West Toronto East Wellington West Patrons of Industry to Conservative Dufferin Grey South Hastings North Conservative/Patrons of Industry to Conservative Cardwell Liberal/PPA to Conservative Middlesex East PPA