1978 Prince Edward Island general election

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

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

+ ↓ 17 15 Liberal PC PartyParty LeaderSeatsPopular Vote1974ElectedChange#%ChangeLiberalAlex Campbell2617-964,13350.7%-3.3%Angus MacLean615+960,87848.1%+8.2%Aquinas Ryan00-1,1730.9%-5.3%-0-2570.2%+0.2%

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.

Kings

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Kings     Ross "Johnny" Young Liberal     James Fay Liberal 2nd Kings     Roddy Pratt Progressive Conservative     Leo Rossiter Progressive Conservative 3rd Kings     William Bennett Campbell Liberal     Bud Ings Liberal 4th Kings     Pat Binns Progressive Conservative     Johnnie Williams Progressive Conservative 5th Kings     Arthur J. MacDonald Liberal     Lowell Johnston Progressive Conservative

Prince

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Prince     Russell Perry Liberal     Robert E. Campbell Liberal 2nd Prince     George R. Henderson Liberal     Allison Ellis Liberal 3rd Prince     Léonce Bernard Liberal     Edward Clark Liberal 4th Prince     William MacDougall Progressive Conservative     Prowse Chappel Progressive Conservative 5th Prince     George McMahon Progressive Conservative     Alexander B. Campbell Liberal

Queens

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Queens     Jean Canfield Liberal     Ralph Johnstone Liberal 2nd Queens     David Ford Liberal     Lloyd MacPhail Progressive Conservative 3rd Queens     Horace B. Carver Progressive Conservative     Fred Driscoll Progressive Conservative 4th Queens     J. Angus MacLean Progressive Conservative     Daniel Compton Progressive Conservative 5th Queens     James M. Lee Progressive Conservative     George Proud Liberal 6th Queens     Barry Clark Progressive Conservative     John H. Maloney Liberal

Sources