James Thomas Milton Anderson (July 23, 1878 – December 29, 1946) was the fifth premier of Saskatchewan and the first Conservative to hold the office.

Early career

Anderson was chosen as leader of the Conservatives in 1924 and was one of the party's three Members of the Legislative Assembly elected in the 1925 election.

Premiership

In the 1929 election, the Conservatives were able to exploit patronage scandals surrounding the Liberal government of Saskatchewan Premier James Garfield Gardiner to achieve a major breakthrough by winning 24 seats. The Liberals won 28 seats, with 5 going to the Progressive Party and the remaining 4 to independents. The Liberals tried to form a minority government but were defeated in a motion of no confidence, which allowed Anderson to form a co-operative government, a coalition between the Conservatives, Progressives and Independents.

Anderson was accused of working closely with the Ku Klux Klan, which was a major force in the province in the late 1920s and the early 1930s with an estimated 25,000 members. Pat Emmons, a senior Klan defector, alleged that Anderson and Klan officials regularly met, and the Liberals accused the Conservatives of being a front for the Klan. With few Blacks in the province, and First Nations largely confined to Indian reserves under the informal pass system, the focus of the Klan was against immigration, Catholics, and francophones;

1929 General election

Anderson led the Conservatives to a much improved result in the 1929 election, being only eight seats short of a majority in a hung parliament. Premier Gardiner and the Liberals had four more seats than the Conservatives. Gardiner chose to face the Assembly in hopes of obtaining sufficient support from some of the opposition members to maintain his government. Anderson organized a vote on a confidence motion which defeated the government. Gardiner resigned and Anderson became Premier.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Saskatchewan General Election: June 6, 1929

|-

!colspan="2"|Party !! Leaders !! Seats Won !! Popular Vote !! Popular Vote Percentage

|-

|James Garfield Gardiner<sup>1</sup> ||align=center|28 || align=center|164,487 || align=center|45.56%

|-

|James T. M. Anderson<sup>2</sup> ||align=center|24 ||align=center|131,550 || align=center|36.44%

|-

|Independent||align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|6 ||align=center|32,729 || align=center|9.06%

|-

|align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|5 ||align=center|24,988 || align=center|6.92%

|-

|align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|0 ||align=center|4,181 || align=center|1.16%

|-

|Economic Group||align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|0||align=center|1,942 ||align=center|0.54%

|-

|Independent Liberal||align=center|&ndash;||align=center|0 || align=center|1,160 ||align=center|0.32%

|-

! colspan=3 |Total !! 63 !! 361,037 !! 100.00%

|-

| align="center" colspan=6|Source: Elections Saskatchewan — Elections Results — 1929

|}

<sup>1</sup> Premier when election was called; lost confidence motion in the Assembly after the election; resigned as Premier and became Leader of the Opposition.<br>

<sup>2</sup> Co-Leader of the Opposition when the election was called; became Premier after successful vote of non-confidence in the Gardiner government.

1934 General election

Anderson was Premier for almost five years and led the Conservatives into the 1934 election, at the depths of the Great Depression and Dirty Thirties. The Conservatives were routed, losing every seat, although they came in second in the popular vote. The Liberals under Gardiner won a massive majority, with all but five seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Farmer-Labour Party formed the Opposition.

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Saskatchewan General Election: June 19, 1934

|-

!colspan="2"|Party !! Leaders !! Seats Won !! Popular Vote !! Popular Vote Percentage

|-

|James Garfield Gardiner<sup>1</sup> ||align=center|50 || align=center|206,212 || align=center|48.00%

|-

| Farmer-Labour ||M. J. Coldwell<sup>2</sup> ||align=center|5 ||align=center|102,944 || align=center|23.96%

|-

|James T. M. Anderson<sup>3</sup> ||align=center|0 ||align=center|114,923 || align=center|26.75%

|-

||Independent ||align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|0 ||align=center|2,949 ||align=center|0.69%

|-

|align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|0 ||align=center|1,420 || align=center|0.33%

|-

|United Front ||align=center|&ndash; ||align=center|0 ||align=center|1,053 || align=center|0.24%

|-

|Independent Liberal||align=center|&ndash;||align=center|0 || align=center|133 ||align=center|0.03%

|-

! colspan=3 |Total !! 55 !! 429,634 !! 100.00%

|-

| align="center" colspan=6|Source: Elections Saskatchewan — Elections Results — 1934

|}

<sup>1</sup> Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after the election.<br>

<sup>2</sup> Party leader during the election, but failed to win seat; role as Leader of the Opposition taken by George Hara Williams.<br>

<sup>3</sup> Premier when election was called; lost seat in the election and resigned as Premier.

Saskatchewan constituency elections

Anderson stood for election five times, all in the riding of Saskatoon City, which returned two members. After becoming Premier after the 1929 general election, he was required by the electoral law at that time to be re-elected in a by-election, which he won by acclamation. He won two contested elections and lost two.

1925 General election: Saskatoon City

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Saskatchewan General Election, June 2, 1925: Saskatoon City (Two Members)

|-

!colspan="2"|Party

!Candidate!!Popular Vote!! %

|-

| E X Archibald Peter McNab || align=center|5,249 || align=center|23.69%

|-

| E James T. M. Anderson ||align=center|5,001 || align=center|22.57%

|-

| George Arthur Cruise ||align=center|4,250 || align=center|19.18%

|-

| Gilbert Harrison Yule || align=center|3,869 || align=center|17.46%

|-

| X Harris Turner ||align=center|3,786 || align=center|17.09%

|-

! colspan=3|Total !! 22,155 !! 99.99%<sup>1</sup>

|-

| align="center" colspan=5|Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division — Saskatoon City

|-

|}

E Elected.<br>

X Incumbent.<br>

<sup>1</sup> Rounding error.

1929 General election: Saskatoon City

{| class="wikitable"

|+ Saskatchewan General Election, June 2, 1929: Saskatoon City (Two Members)

|-

!colspan="2"|Party

!Candidate!!Popular Vote!! %

|-

| E X Howard McConnell || align=center|10,141 || align=center|31.77%

|-

| E X James T. M. Anderson ||align=center|9,668 || align=center|30.29%

|-

| James Wilfred Estey ||align=center|6,092 || align=center|19.09%

|-

| Charles Wesley McCool || align=center|6,017 || align=center|18.85%

|-

! colspan=3|Total !! 31,918 !! 100.00%

|-

| align="center" colspan=5|Source: Saskatchewan Archives — Election Results by Electoral Division — Saskatoon City