2023 Prince Edward Island general election

The 2023 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the members of the 67th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island on 3 April 2023. The election normally required by 2 October under Prince Edward Island's fixed election date legislation was called early by Premier Dennis King at his nomination meeting on 6 March.

The Progressive Conservatives under incumbent Premier Dennis King won a majority government, gaining a combined seven seats from the Liberal and Green parties. The Liberals won three seats and became the Official Opposition, replacing the Greens who held two of their seats; however, newly acclaimed Liberal leader Sharon Cameron challenged Green leader Peter Bevan-Baker for his own seat and lost, placing third behind Bevan-Baker and the PC candidate. Following the election, Cameron and Bevan-Baker resigned as leaders of their respective parties.

The New Democratic Party ran candidates in all 27 districts, and the Island Party officially registered for the first time since the 2011 election, running candidates in 11 districts. Neither party elected any members to the Legislature. Voter turnout of 68.5% was the province's lowest recorded for a general election since Elections PEI began keeping records in 1966.

Background Prince Edward Island's fixed election date legislation calls for a general election to be held prior to the first Monday of October in the fourth calendar year subsequent to the previous general election, which would have required an election to be held by 2 October. Instead, the election was called early for 3 April.

Incumbents not standing for re-election The following MLAs announced that they would not run in the 2023 provincial election (Ole Hammarlund lost a contested nomination for his seat): Retiring incumbentElectoral districtSubsequent party nomineeElected MLAColin LaVie Progressive ConservativeSouris-ElmiraRobin CroucherRobin CroucherJames Aylward Progressive ConservativeStratford-KeppochJill BurridgeJill BurridgeHannah Bell GreenCharlottetown-BelvedereJoanna MorrisonSusie DillonOle Hammarlund GreenCharlottetown-BrightonJanice HarperRob LantzSonny Gallant LiberalEvangeline-MiscouchePat MacLellanGilles ArsenaultTimeline 23 April 2019: General election held. The Progressive Conservative Party wins the most seats, while the incumbent Liberal Party falls to third place. The Green Party becomes the Opposition. 26 April 2019: Outgoing Premier Wade MacLauchlan announces intention to resign leadership of the Liberal Party upon appointment of an interim leader. 8 May 2019: Robert Mitchell is appointed interim Liberal leader. 9 May 2019: Dennis King's Progressive Conservative government is sworn in, following the resignation of Wade MacLauchlan's Liberal government. 13 June 2019: Deferred election date announced for Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park. 6 July 2019: Advance voting in Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park deferred election began, also took place on 8 and 12 July. 15 July 2019: Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park deferred election held, Progressive Conservative candidate Natalie Jameson is elected. 9 September 2019: Robert Mitchell resigns as interim Liberal leader. 16 September 2019: Sonny Gallant is appointed interim Liberal leader. 1 September 2020: Joe Byrne resigns as leader of the New Democratic Party. 23 April 2022: Michelle Neill is elected leader of the New Democratic Party. 19 November 2022: Sharon Cameron is acclaimed leader of the Liberal Party, being the only candidate in the party's leadership election. 6 March 2023: Dennis King is nominated as the PC candidate for Brackley-Hunter River, and announces that the election will be held on 3 April. 3 April 2023: General election held. Progressive Conservatives win a majority government.

Changes in MLAs + Changes in seats held (2019–2023) Seat Before Change Date Member Party Reason Date Member PartyCharlottetown-Winsloe3 September 2020Robert MitchellResigned from Legislature2 November 2020Zack BellCornwall-Meadowbank18 August 2021Heath MacDonaldResigned to run in Malpeque in the 2021 Canadian federal election.15 November 2021Mark McLane

ResultsPartyParty leaderCandidatesSeatsPopular vote2019Dissol.2023Change#%ChangeDennis King27131522+9 41,82855.92+19.19Peter Bevan-Baker25882−6 16,13321.57−8.99Sharon Cameron25643−312,87617.21−12.19Michelle Neill 2700003,3594.49+1.53Cecile Sly (Ahava Kálnássy de Kálnás) 1100004110.55+0.55Independent400001840.25−0.09Blank and invalid ballotsTotal92 27 27 27 0 100 0Registered voters / turnout

Synopsis of results + 2023 PEI general election - synopsis of riding results, grouped by federal riding Riding 2019 Winning party Turnoutincluding spoilt ballots Votesminor political parties receiving less than 1% of the national popular vote are aggregated under "Other"; independent candidates are aggregated separately Party Votes Share Margin# Margin% PC Green Lib NDP Island TotalCardiganBelfast-Murray River PC PC1,510 58.7%990 38.5% 65.8%1,510 419 520 124 – – 2,574Georgetown-Pownal PC PC1,961 69.8%1,609 57.3% 73.0%1,961 352 340 79 78 – 2,810Mermaid-Stratford Grn PC1,245 45.3%38 1.4% 68.8%1,245 1,207 254 43 – – 2,749Montague-Kilmuir PC PC1,847 70.2%1,468 55.8% 66.7%1,847 379 271 38 38 58 2,631Morell-Donagh PC PC1,899 70.6%1,550 57.6% 68.1%1,899 349 282 115 44 – 2,689Souris-Elmira PC PC1,593 55.4%836 29.1% 75.8%1,593 757 481 29 16 – 2,876Stanhope-Marshfield PC PC2,209 79.6%1,643 59.2% 65.8%2,209 – – 566 – – 2,775Stratford-Keppoch PC PC1,479 52.3%632 22.4% 72.0%1,479 847 471 32 – – 2,829MalpequeBorden-Kinkora PC PC1,719 60.1%724 25.3% 67.7%1,719 995 – 83 61 – 2,858Brackley-Hunter River PC PC1,903 68.2%1,420 50.9% 70.2%1,903 483 321 83 – – 2,790Cornwall-Meadowbank Lib PC1,750 54.8%975 30.6% 68.4%1,750 775 611 60 – – 3,196Kensington-Malpeque PC PC2,294 76.6%1,831 61.1% 70.7%2,294 463 169 67 – – 2,993New Haven-Rocky Point Grn Grn1,457 42.8%106 3.2% 75.4%1,351 1,457 502 49 49 – 3,408Rustico-Emerald PC PC1,990 62.5%1,431 44.9% 70.8%1,990 559 532 102 – – 3,183CharlottetownCharlottetown-Belvedere Grn PC1,418 51.1%779 28.1% 66.7%1,418 639 560 133 25 – 2,775Charlottetown-Brighton Grn PC1,171 43.0%307 11.3% 68.4%1,171 864 487 202 – – 2,724Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park PC PC1,660 61.9%1,137 42.4% 63.2%1,660 523 352 125 21 – 2,681Charlottetown-Victoria Park Grn Grn1,052 42.0%74 3.0% 60.8%978 1,052 293 150 32 – 2,505Charlottetown-West Royalty Lib Lib1,207 45.1%165 6.2% 64.2%1,042 301 1,207 63 28 36 2,677Charlottetown-Winsloe Lib PC1,861 60.6%1,308 42.6% 71.4%1,861 553 540 78 – 41 3,073EgmontAlberton-Bloomfield PC PC1,532 57.6%636 23.9% 73.6%1,532 132 896 102 – – 2,662Evangeline-Miscouche Lib PC1,384 61.7%841 37.5% 69.4%1,384 271 543 45 – – 2,243O'Leary-Inverness Lib Lib894 37.2%156 6.5% 71.2%738 72 894 702 – – 2,406Summerside-South Drive Green PC1,378 53.3%639 24.7% 57.7%1,378 739 397 70 – – 2,584Summerside-Wilmot Green PC1,651 56.7%670 23.0% 66.8%1,651 981 214 45 19 – 2,910Tignish-Palmer Road Lib Lib1,527 58.7%588 22.6% 75.5%939 – 1,527 137 – – 2,603Tyne Valley-Sherbrooke Green PC1,326 51.2%362 14.0% 64.9%1,326 964 212 37 – 49 2,588

= open seat = turnout is above provincial average = incumbent re-elected in same riding = incumbency arose from byelection gain = other incumbent renominated

+ Resulting composition of the 67th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island Source PartyPCLibGrnTotalSeats retained Incumbents returned 11 3 2 16Open seats held 2 2Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated 4 4Open seats gained 3 3Byelection gains held 2 2Total 22 3 2 27

Seats changing hands

MLAs who lost their seats PartyNameRidingYear electedSeat held by party sinceDefeated byPartyGreenMichele BeatonMermaid-Stratford20192019Jenn RedmondProgressive ConservativeSteve HowardSummerside-South Drive20192019Barb RamsayLynne LundSummerside-Wilmot20192019Tyler DesRochesTrish AltassTyne Valley-Sherbrooke20192019Hilton MacLennan

Open seats changing hands Party in 2019CandidateRetiring incumbentConstituencyDefeated byPartyGreenJoanna MorrisonHannah BellCharlottetown-BelvedereSusie DillonProgressive ConservativeJanice HarperOle HammarlundCharlottetown-BrightonRob Lantz LiberalPat MacLellanSonny GallantEvangeline-MiscoucheGilles Arsenault

Candidates

Party leaders' names are in bold; cabinet ministers' names are in italics. Incumbents who didn't run for re-election are denoted with a dagger †.

Cardigan

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|4. Belfast-Murray River

|Darlene Compton |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|2. Georgetown-Pownal

|Steven Myers |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|5. Mermaid-Stratford

|Michele Beaton |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|3. Montague-Kilmuir

|Cory Deagle |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|7. Morell-Donagh

|Sidney MacEwen |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|1. Souris-Elmira

|Colin LaVie† |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|8. Stanhope-Marshfield

|Bloyce Thompson

|Marian White

|Bloyce Thompson |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|6. Stratford-Keppoch

|James Aylward†

Malpeque

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|19. Borden-Kinkora

|Jamie Fox | |Matt MacFarlane

|Carole MacFarlane | |Paul Smitz || |Jamie Fox |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|15. Brackley-Hunter River

|Dennis King |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|16. Cornwall-Meadowbank

|Mark McLane |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|20. Kensington-Malpeque

|Peter Bevan-Baker | |Sharon Cameron | |Douglas Dahn | |Neil Emery || |Peter Bevan-Baker |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|18. Rustico-Emerald

|Brad Trivers

Charlottetown

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|11. Charlottetown-Belvedere

|Hannah Bell† |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|13. Charlottetown-Brighton

|Ole Hammarlund†(Lost re-nomination) |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|9. Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park

|Gord McNeilly |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|10. Charlottetown-Winsloe

|Georgina Bassett

|Zack Bell

Egmont

|bgcolor="whitesmoke"|26. Alberton-Bloomfield

|Ernie Hudson |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|24. Evangeline-Miscouche

|Robert Henderson | |Herb Dickieson

|Robert Henderson |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|22. Summerside-South Drive

|Steve Howard |- |bgcolor="whitesmoke"|21. Summerside-Wilmot

2023 Prince Edward Island general election

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