The 31st New Brunswick general election was held on October 13, 1987, to elect 58 members to the 51st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly

51st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly

The 51st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly was created following a general election in 1987. It was dissolved on August 22, 1991.-Leadership:The speaker was Frank Branch.Premier Frank McKenna led the government...

, the governing house of the province

Provinces and territories of Canada

The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...

 of New Brunswick

New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The Liberal Party

New Brunswick Liberal Association

The New Brunswick Liberal Association , more popularly known as the New Brunswick Liberal Party or Liberal Party of New Brunswick, is one of the two major political parties in the Canadian province of New Brunswick...

 was victorious, for the first time since 1967

New Brunswick general election, 1967

The 26th New Brunswick general election was held on October 23, 1967, to elect 58 members to the 46th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada....

, in a landslide by winning all 58 seats in the legislature

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly is the name given in some countries to either a legislature, or to one of its branch.The name is used by a number of member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations, as well as a number of Latin American countries....

.

The popularity of Richard Hatfield

Richard Hatfield

Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...

, who had served as a popular premier

Premier

Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...

 from 1970 through the 1982 election

New Brunswick general election, 1982

The 30th New Brunswick general election was held on October 12, 1982, to elect 58 members to the 50th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It saw Richard Hatfield's Progressive Conservative Party win its largest majority ever to that time...

, fell due to scandals in his last term. In 1984, during an official visit to New Brunswick by Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

, Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

 officers found marijuana

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

 in Hatfield's luggage. Hatfield was later acquitted

Acquittal

In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...

 of marijuana possession charges. As reported by the media, Hatfield was also alleged to have hosted parties with young men where illegal drugs were used . He was criticized by opposition parties and by the media for extravagant use of the government plane, which he used to travel to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 where he visited night clubs, earning him the nickname "Disco Dick".

In 1985, three Saint John

Saint John, New Brunswick

City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...

-area Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick

The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right political party in New Brunswick, Canada. It has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granting of responsible government to the colony...

 members of the legislature (MLAs) challenged Hatfield's leadership and led a brief caucus revolt

Caucus revolt

A Caucus Revolt occurs when enough members of a political party pressure its leadership to step down or to remove planned bills\legislation\policies from its platform. A Caucus Revolt generally concludes with the party leader resigning his position as such a revolt is usually seen to show poor...

 after the Liberals won two by-elections in previously Tory

Tory

Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...

 seats, but Hatfield led the party through a fifth election.

Hoping to boost his popularity enough to avoid defeat, Hatfield delayed calling the election as long as possible. It was finally held on October 13, 1987, five years and a day since the last election -- the longest allowed by the Constitution of Canada

Constitution of Canada

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...

. Hatfield lost every seat, including his own. He took full responsibility for the defeat. He announced his resignation the night of the election while being interviewed by media outside of his Hartland

Hartland, New Brunswick

Hartland is a town in Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada.Hartland is situated on the Saint John River in the central-western portion of the province in the agricultural heartland of Carleton County. It is the hometown of two of New Brunswick's premiers during the 20th century: Hugh John...

 home, where he had been abandoned by his supporters early in the evening as the returns began to come in.

Frank McKenna

Frank McKenna

Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna, PC, OC, ONB, QC is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006...

's Liberals were virtually assured victory from day one, thanks to Hatfield's scandals, but ran a very successful campaign allowing them to sweep the province. The New Democrats also suffered a moral defeat, losing their one seat -- something they had won for the first time in 1982.

Results

Party		Party Leader	# of candidates	Seats				Popular Vote
				1982 New Brunswick general election, 1982 The 30th New Brunswick general election was held on October 12, 1982, to elect 58 members to the 50th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It saw Richard Hatfield's Progressive Conservative Party win its largest majority ever to that time...	font style="font-size: 75%;">Dissolution Dissolution of parliament In parliamentary systems, a dissolution of parliament is the dispersal of a legislature at the call of an election.Usually there is a maximum length of a legislature, and a dissolution must happen before the maximum time...	Elected	% Change	#	%	Change	Liberal	Frank McKenna Frank McKenna Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna, PC, OC, ONB, QC is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006...		18	18	58			60.39%		Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right political party in New Brunswick, Canada. It has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granting of responsible government to the colony...	Richard Hatfield Richard Hatfield Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...		39	38	0			28.59%		New Democratic	George Little George Little (New Brunswick politician) George Little is a retired high school English teacher and former leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party .Little and his family immigrated to Canada in 1964, settling in Saint John, New Brunswick. Originally from Scotland, he had been teaching in South Yemen before arriving in Canada...		1	2	0			10.55%		Independents			-	-	-			0.47%
***	Total			58	58	58			100.0%