King–Byng affair

The King–Byng affair was a “constitutional crisis” in Canada in 1926. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King led the Liberal Party to defeat in the 1925 federal election. Many observers, including Governor General Lord Byng, assumed that he would resign and allow Conservative Arthur Meighen to take over. But King would not concede. He insisted on meeting the house, convinced that the Progressives would support his government rather than see it replaced by the Conservatives. For a few tense months King proved to be right. The Liberals remained in government until June 1926, when King asked the governor general to dissolve the house and force another election. Byng refused on the grounds that Meighen should be given a chance to form a government.