List of Quebec general elections explained

This article provides a summary of results for the general elections to the Canadian province of Quebec's unicameral legislative body, the National Assembly of Quebec (and its predecessor, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec). The number of seats has generally increased over time, from 65 for the first six elections, to the current high of 125.

The chart on the upper right shows the information graphically, with the most recent elections towards the right.

The Conservative party (blue) in 1936 merged into the Union Nationale (now defunct). The 1970s saw the arrival of the sovereignist Parti Québécois, to be followed by Québec Solidaire and the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in 2006 and 2011, respectively.

This article only covers elections since the Canadian confederation in 1867, when Quebec was created as one of Canada's provinces. For Quebec's first 15 elections as Lower Canada from 1792 to 1840, see Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada. For the 8 joint elections of Ontario and Quebec as the Province of Canada, from 1840 to 1867, see list of elections in the Province of Canada.

Summary of results

The table below shows the total number of seats won by the political parties in each election. It also shows the percentage of the vote obtained by each party. The winning party's totals are shown in bold. There have been five elections (1998, 1966, 1944, 1892 and 1886) in which the winning party did not have the largest share of the popular vote. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.

Pre-1936

ElectionTotal seatsConservativeLiberalOther
SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)Seat-winning party
colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=3
1867 width=3655253.481335.4011.12
1871 width=3654651.721939.438.84
1875 width=3654650.671938.5910.74
1878 width=3653449.493147.493.02
1881 width=3655050.381538.9710.65
1886 width=3652946.193339.58314.23Parti national
1890 width=3732445.114344.20610.69Parti national (5); Parti ouvrier (1)
1892 width=3735252.412143.6513.94
1897 width=3742343.825153.282.90
1900 width=374741.856753.155.00
1904 width=374742.736755.431.84
1908 width=3741439.925753.5336.55Ligue nationaliste
1912 width=3811643.016453.5413.45Ligue nationaliste
1916 width=381635.097560.574.34
1919 width=382516.907551.91231.19Parti ouvrier
1923 width=3852039.326452.5218.16Independent
1927 width=385934.317459.3326.36Independents
1931 width=3901143.547954.881.58
1935 width=3891718.934746.532534.54ALN

Post-1936

ElectionTotal seatsLiberalUnion NationaleParti QuébécoisCAQ / ADQQuébec SolidaireOther
SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)SeatsVote (%)Seat-winning party
colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=2 colspan=3
1936 width=3901439.417656.883.71
1939 width=3867054.051539.1316.81Independent
1944 width=3913739.354838.02622.63Bloc Populaire (4)
CCF, Independent
1948 width=392836.178251.24212.59Independents
1952 width=3922345.776850.5013.72Independent
1956 width=3932044.877252.8012.33Independent
1960 width=3955151.384346.6112.01Independent
1962 width=3956356.403142.1511.45Independent
1966 width=31085047.295640.82211.89Independents
1970 width=31087245.401719.65723.061211.89Créditistes
1973 width=311010254.654.92630.22210.21Créditistes
1976 width=31102633.781118.207141.3726.64PNP, Créditistes
1981 width=31224246.084.008049.200.71
1985 width=31229955.990.232338.695.08
1989 width=31259249.952940.1649.89Equality
1994 width=31254744.407744.7516.464.4
1998 width=31254843.557642.87111.811.8
2003 width=31257645.994533.24418.182.3
2007 width=31254833.083628.354130.843.644.1
2008 width=31256642.085135.17716.3713.782.6
2012 width=31255031.205431.951927.0526.033.7
2014 width=31257041.523025.382223.0537.632.4
2018 width=31253124.761017.097437.471016.061.68
2022 width=31252114.37314.609040.971115.4214.64

Notes

Includes all Independent Conservative candidates elected from 1875 to 1892.

Results include the by-election on 20 May 2003 in the Champlain electoral district to break a tie in the original general election.

Results include the by-election on 14 December 1998 in the Masson electoral district due to the death of PQ candidate Yves Blais on 22 November 1998.

Results include the by-election on 24 October 1994 in the Saint-Jean electoral district to break a tie in the original general election.

Includes Independent Liberal candidate; the 27 May 1912 election of Gustave Lemieux by acclamation in Gaspé; and the 15 July 1912 election of Joseph-Édouard Caron in the Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

Includes the Independent Liberal candidate elected.

Includes the Conservative candidate elected in the by-election held in Kamouraska on 11 February 1869.

Power went back and forth a few times after the 1878 election. For most of that legislature, the Liberals controlled a minority parliament with the support of some Conservative members.

The Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) ran from 1994–2008. The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) was founded in 2011, merged with the ADQ (absorbing all of its sitting MNAs), and ran in its first election in 2012.

References