1979 Prince Edward Island general election

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

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. The campaign was also the only one in which the "Draft Beer Party of PEI" ran, with one candidate in 5th Queens.

Party standings

+ ↓ 21 11 PC Liberal

PartyParty LeaderSeatsPopular Vote1978ElectedChange#%ChangeAngus MacLean1521+668,44053.3%+5.2%LiberalBennett Campbell1711-658,17445.3%-5.4%Doreen Sark (interim)00-1,6551.3%+0.4%Draft Beer Party --0-2000.2%+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     Albert Fogarty Progressive Conservative 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     Gilbert R. Clements Liberal 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     Peter Pope Progressive Conservative

Queens

District Assemblyman Party Councillor Party 1st Queens     Marion Reid Progressive Conservative     Leone Bagnall Progressive Conservative 2nd Queens     Gordon Lank Progressive Conservative     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     Wilfred MacDonald Progressive Conservative 6th Queens     Barry Clark Progressive Conservative     Jim Larkin Progressive Conservative

Sources

Further reading