1978 Prince Edward Island general election explained

Election Name:1978 Prince Edward Island general election
Country:Prince Edward Island
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:no
Party Name:no
Previous Election:1974 Prince Edward Island general election
Previous Year:1974
Next Election:1979 Prince Edward Island general election
Next Year:1979
Seats For Election:All 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Majority Seats:17
Image1: Lib
Leader1:Alexander B. Campbell
Leader Since1:December 11, 1965
Leaders Seat1:5th Prince
Last Election1:26 seats, 54.0%
Seats1:17
Seat Change1:9
Popular Vote1:64,133
Percentage1:50.7%
Swing1:3.3pp
Map Size:350px
Premier
Before Election:Alexander B. Campbell
Posttitle:Premier after election
After Election:Alexander B. Campbell
Previous Mps:53rd General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Elected Mps:members
Next Mps:55th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Leader2:Angus MacLean
Leader Since2:September 25, 1976
Leaders Seat2:4th Queens
Last Election2:6 seats, 39.9%
Seats2:15
Seat Change2:9
Popular Vote2:60,878
Percentage2:48.1%
Swing2:8.2pp

The 1978 Prince Edward Island general election was held on April 24, 1978.[1]

The election was one of the closest in P.E.I. history, with the governing Liberals of Premier Alexander B. Campbell losing a number of seats to their Progressive Conservative rivals. The decrease of the 26 to 6 Liberal majority to a slim 17 to 15 lead over the PC, and the resignation of Alex Campbell, led to an unstable legislature, and another election was held just one year later in 1979.

Party standings

1715
LiberalPC

Members elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district. Before 1963, Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district, but afterward they were elected in the same manner as Assemblymen.[2]

Kings

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Kings   Ross "Johnny" YoungLiberal   James FayLiberal
2nd Kings   Roddy PrattProgressive
Conservative
   Leo RossiterProgressive
Conservative
3rd Kings   William Bennett CampbellLiberal   Bud IngsLiberal
4th Kings   Pat BinnsProgressive
Conservative
   Johnnie WilliamsProgressive
Conservative
5th Kings   Arthur J. MacDonaldLiberal   Lowell JohnstonProgressive
Conservative

Prince

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Prince   Russell PerryLiberal   Robert E. CampbellLiberal
2nd Prince   George R. HendersonLiberal   Allison EllisLiberal
3rd Prince   Léonce BernardLiberal   Edward ClarkLiberal
4th Prince   William MacDougallProgressive
Conservative
   
Prowse ChappelProgressive
Conservative
5th Prince   George McMahonProgressive
Conservative
   Alexander B. CampbellLiberal

Queens

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Queens   Jean CanfieldLiberal   Ralph JohnstoneLiberal
2nd Queens   David FordLiberal   Lloyd MacPhailProgressive
Conservative
3rd Queens   Horace B. CarverProgressive
Conservative
   Fred DriscollProgressive
Conservative
4th Queens   J. Angus MacLeanProgressive
Conservative
   Daniel ComptonProgressive
Conservative
5th Queens   James M. LeeProgressive
Conservative
   George ProudLiberal
6th Queens   Barry ClarkProgressive
Conservative
   John H. MaloneyLiberal

Sources

  1. Web site: Provincial General Election Results, 1978 . Elections PEI . 2015-05-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150923235128/http://www.electionspei.ca/pdfs/ceoreports/results/1978Report.pdf . 2015-09-23 . dead .
  2. Web site: History and Politics of Prince Edward Island . Fred Driscoll . Canadian Parliamentary Review.