1979 Prince Edward Island general election explained

Election Name:1979 Prince Edward Island general election
Country:Prince Edward Island
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:no
Party Colour:no
Party Name:no
Previous Election:1978 Prince Edward Island general election
Previous Year:1978
Next Election:1982 Prince Edward Island general election
Next Year:1982
Seats For Election:All 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Majority Seats:17
Leader1:Angus MacLean
Leader Since1:September 25, 1976
Leaders Seat1:4th Queens
Last Election1:15 seats, 48.1%
Seats1:21
Seat Change1:6
Popular Vote1:68,440
Percentage1:53.3%
Swing1:5.2pp
Map Size:400px
Premier
Before Election:Bennett Campbell
Posttitle:Premier after election
After Election:Angus MacLean
Previous Mps:54th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Elected Mps:members
Next Mps:56th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
Leader2:Bennett Campbell
Leader Since2:December 9, 1978
Leaders Seat2:3rd Kings
Last Election2:17 seats, 50.7%
Seats2:11
Seat Change2:6
Popular Vote2:58,175
Percentage2:45.3%
Swing2:5.4pp

The 1979 Prince Edward Island general election was held on April 23, 1979.[1]

The election was held just one year after the 1978 election, which featured a 17–15 split in MLAs in the legislature. Following the resignation of former premier Alex Campbell from his seat, the legislature was in a 15–15 tie in voting members (the Liberal Speaker, Russell Perry, could not cast active votes in his role), the new Premier Bennett Campbell decided to call an election in an effort to regain his lost majority. The gambit failed, and instead the Progressive Conservatives led by Angus MacLean formed a strong majority government.

The campaign was the first to feature a female party leader running in PEI, with Doreen Sark serving as interim leader of the NDP.[2] The campaign was also the only one in which the "Draft Beer Party of PEI" ran, with one candidate in 5th Queens.

Party standings

2111
PCLiberal

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.[3]

Kings

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Kings   Ross "Johnny" YoungLiberal   Albert FogartyProgressive
Conservative
2nd Kings   Roddy PrattProgressive
Conservative
   Leo RossiterProgressive
Conservative
3rd Kings   William Bennett CampbellLiberal   Bud IngsLiberal
4th Kings   Pat BinnsProgressive
Conservative
   Gilbert R. ClementsLiberal
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
   Peter PopeProgressive
Conservative

Queens

DistrictAssemblymanPartyCouncillorParty
1st Queens   Marion ReidProgressive
Conservative
   Leone BagnallProgressive
Conservative
2nd Queens   Gordon LankProgressive
Conservative
   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
   Wilfred MacDonaldProgressive
Conservative
6th Queens   Barry ClarkProgressive
Conservative
   Jim LarkinProgressive
Conservative

Sources

  1. Web site: Provincial General Election Results, 1979 . Elections PEI . 2016-10-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161020173215/http://www.electionspei.ca/pdfs/ceoreports/results/1979Report.pdf . 2016-10-20 . dead .
  2. News: Woman leads Nova Scotia NDP . Canadian Press . . Toronto . November 17, 1980 . A5 .
  3. Web site: History and Politics of Prince Edward Island . Fred Driscoll . Canadian Parliamentary Review.

Further reading