Quebec general elections
Encyclopedia
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s to the Canadian
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...
province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
's unicameral legislative body
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
, the National Assembly of Quebec
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...
(and its predecessor, the Legislative Assembly of Quebec
Legislative Assembly of Quebec
The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...
). 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. It shows that the Liberal party
Parti libéral du Québec
The Quebec Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955....
(red) is the only party to have won seats at every election; the disappearance of the Conservative party
Parti conservateur du Québec
The Parti conservateur du Québec was a political party in Quebec, Canada.-Origins:The party originated as the Parti bleu which was formed around 1850 by the followers of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine...
(blue) after 1935; the rise and fall of its replacement, the Union Nationale (green); and arrival of the separatist Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
(cyan) in the 1970s. The Liberal party have been the most successful in the province, winning twenty-one out of thirty-seven elections.
This article only covers elections since the Canadian confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
in 1867, when Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
was created as one of Canada's provinces. For Quebec's first 15 elections as Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
from 1792 to 1840, see Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada
The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791...
. For the 8 joint elections of Ontario and Quebec as the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
, 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 major political parties at each election. It also shows the percentage of the vote obtained by the major political parties at each election. The winning party's totals are shown in bold. There has been five elections (1998, 1966, 1944, 1892 and 1886) in which the winning party did not have the largest share of the vote. Full details on any election are linked via the year of the election at the start of the row.| Election | Liberal Parti libéral du Québec The Quebec Liberal Party is a centre-right political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955.... |
Parti Québécois Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal... |
ADQ Action démocratique du Québec The Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists.... |
Union Nationale | Conservative Parti conservateur du Québec The Parti conservateur du Québec was a political party in Quebec, Canada.-Origins:The party originated as the Parti bleu which was formed around 1850 by the followers of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine... |
Other | Total seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote (%) | Seats | Vote (%) | Seats | Vote (%) | Seats | Vote (%) | Seats | Vote (%) | Seats | Vote (%) | Seats | Seat-winning party | |||
| 2008 | 42.05 | 66 | 35.15 | 51 | 16.35 | 7 | 6.45 | 1 | Québec solidaire Québec Solidaire Québec solidaire is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada, that was created on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. It was formed by the merger of the left-wing party Union des forces progressistes and the alter-globalization political movement Option Citoyenne, led... |
125 | |||||
| 2007 Quebec general election, 2007 The Quebec general election of 2007 was held in the Canadian province of Quebec on March 26, 2007 to elect members of the 38th National Assembly of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party led by Jean Charest managed to win a plurality of seats, but were reduced to a minority government, Quebec's first in... |
33.08 | 48 | 28.35 | 36 | 30.84 | 41 | 7.73 | 125 | |||||||
| 2003 Quebec general election, 2003 The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:... |
45.99 | 76 | 33.24 | 45 | 18.18 | 4 | 2.59 | 125 | |||||||
| 1998 Quebec general election, 1998 The Quebec general election of 1998 was held on November 30, 1998, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Lucien Bouchard, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Charest.After the narrow defeat of... |
43.55 | 48 | 42.87 | 76 | 11.81 | 1 | 1.77 | 125 | |||||||
| 1994 Quebec general election, 1994 The Quebec general election of 1994 was held on September 12, 1994, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The Parti Québécois, led by Jacques Parizeau, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Daniel Johnson, Jr..... |
44.40 | 47 | 44.75 | 77 | 6.46 | 1 | 4.39 | 125 | |||||||
| 1989 Quebec general election, 1989 The Quebec general election of 1989 was held on September 25, 1989, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
49.95 | 92 | 40.16 | 29 | 9.89 | 4 | Equality Equality Party (Quebec) The Equality Party was a political party in Quebec, Canada, that promoted the use of English in Quebec on an equal basis with French. Four Equality Party members were elected to Quebec's National Assembly in 1989, as part of an anglophone reaction to changes made by the governing Liberals to... |
125 | |||||||
| 1985 Quebec general election, 1985 The Quebec general election of 1985 was held on December 2, 1985, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Quebec Liberal Party, led by former premier Robert Bourassa, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by premier Pierre-Marc Johnson.This election... |
55.99 | 99 | 38.69 | 23 | 0.23 | 5.08 | 122 | ||||||||
| 1981 Quebec general election, 1981 The Quebec general election of 1981 was held on April 13, 1981, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Claude Ryan.The PQ won re-election despite... |
46.08 | 42 | 49.20 | 80 | 4.00 | 0.71 | 122 | ||||||||
| 1976 Quebec general election, 1976 The Quebec general election of 1976 was held on November 15, 1976 to elect members to National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled only by the 1960 general election, and caused major repercussions in the rest of Canada... |
33.78 | 26 | 41.37 | 71 | 18.20 | 11 | 6.64 | 2 | PNP Parti national populaire The Parti national populaire or PNP was a minor political party in Quebec, Canada that operated in the 1970s.... , Créditistes Ralliement créditiste du Québec The Ralliement créditiste du Québec was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada that operated from 1970 to 1978. It promoted social credit theories of monetary reform, and acted as an outlet for the expression of rural... |
110 | |||||
| 1973 Quebec general election, 1973 The Quebec general election of 1973 was held on October 29, 1973 to elect members to National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Robert Bourassa, won re-election, defeating the Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, and the Union Nationale .The Liberals won a... |
54.65 | 102 | 30.22 | 6 | 4.92 | 10.21 | 2 | Créditistes | 110 | ||||||
| 1970 Quebec general election, 1970 The Quebec general election of 1970 was held on April 29, 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The former Legislative Assembly had been renamed the "National Assembly" in 1968... |
45.40 | 72 | 23.06 | 7 | 19.65 | 17 | 11.89 | 12 | Créditistes | 108 | |||||
| 1966 Quebec general election, 1966 The Quebec general election of 1966 was held on June 5, 1966, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale , led by Daniel Johnson, Sr, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage.... |
47.29 | 50 | 40.82 | 56 | 11.89 | 2 | Independents | 108 | |||||||
| 1962 Quebec general election, 1962 The Quebec general election of 1962 was held on November 14, 1962, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage, won re-election, defeating the Union Nationale led by Daniel Johnson, Sr..In an unusual move,... |
56.40 | 63 | 42.15 | 31 | 1.45 | 1 | Independent | 95 | |||||||
| 1960 Quebec general election, 1960 The Quebec general election of 1960 was held on June 22, 1960 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled perhaps only by the 1976 general election... |
51.38 | 51 | 46.61 | 43 | 2.01 | 1 | Independent | 95 | |||||||
| 1956 Quebec general election, 1956 The Quebec general election of 1956 was held on June 20, 1956 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Georges-Émile Lapalme.This was the fifth and final... |
44.87 | 20 | 52.80 | 72 | 2.33 | 1 | Independent | 93 | |||||||
| 1952 Quebec general election, 1952 The Quebec general election of 1952 was held on July 16, 1952 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Georges-Émile Lapalme.This was the... |
45.77 | 23 | 50.50 | 68 | 3.72 | 1 | Independent | 92 | |||||||
| 1948 Quebec general election, 1948 The Quebec general election of 1948 was held on July 28, 1948 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout.This was the third time ... |
36.17 | 8 | 51.24 | 82 | 12.59 | 2 | Independents | 92 | |||||||
| 1944 Quebec general election, 1944 The Quebec general election of 1944 was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale, led by former premier Maurice Duplessis, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout... |
39.35 | 37 | 38.02 | 48 | 22.63 | 6 | Bloc Populaire (4) CCF Parti social démocratique du Québec The Parti social démocratique du Québec was the Quebec wing of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. It was founded in 1939 as the Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif and was led by Thérèse Casgrain from 1951 to 1957 and by Michel Chartrand from 1957 to 1960... , Independent |
91 | |||||||
| 1939 Quebec general election, 1939 The Quebec general election of 1939 was held on October 25, 1939 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
54.05 | 70 | 39.13 | 15 | 6.81 | 1 | Independent | 86 | |||||||
| 1936 Quebec general election, 1936 The Quebec general election of 1936 was held on August 17, 1936 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale, led by Maurice Duplessis, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout.This marked the end of slightly more... |
39.41 | 14 | 56.88 | 76 | 3.71 | 90 | |||||||||
| 1935 Quebec general election, 1935 The Quebec general election of 1935 was held on November 25, 1935 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
46.53 | 47 | 18.93 | 17 | 34.54 | 25 | ALN Action libérale nationale The Action libérale nationale was a short-lived provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was founded during the Great Depression and led by Paul Gouin. The ALN played an important role in the foundation of the Union Nationale.-Origin and beliefs:The party was created in 1934 by... |
89 | |||||||
| 1931 Quebec general election, 1931 The Quebec general election of 1931 was held on August 24, 1931 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Camillien Houde.It... |
54.88 | 79 | 43.54 | 11 | 1.58 | 90 | |||||||||
| 1927 Quebec general election, 1927 The Quebec general election of 1927 was held on May 16, 1927 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Arthur Sauvé.It was the... |
59.33 | 74 | 34.31 | 9 | 6.36 | 2 | Independents | 85 | |||||||
| 1923 Quebec general election, 1923 The Quebec general election of 1923 was held on February 5, 1923 to elect members of the 16th Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Arthur Sauvé.It was the first... |
52.52 | 64 | 39.32 | 20 | 8.16 | 1 | Independent | 85 | |||||||
| 1919 Quebec general election, 1919 The Quebec general election of 1919 was held on June 23, 1919 to elect members of the 15th Legislative Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Lomer Gouin, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Arthur Sauvé.Gouin, who had held office since... |
51.91 | 75 | 16.90 | 5 | 31.19 | 2 | Parti ouvrier | 82 | |||||||
| 1916 Quebec general election, 1916 The Quebec general election of 1916 was held on May 22, 1916 to elect members of the 14th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
60.57 | 75 | 35.09 | 6 | 4.34 | 81 | |||||||||
| 1912 Quebec general election, 1912 The Quebec general election of 1912 was held on May 15, 1912 to elect members of the 13th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
53.54 | 43.01 | 16 | 3.45 | 1 | Ligue nationaliste | 81 | ||||||||
| 1908 Quebec general election, 1908 The Quebec general election of 1908 was held on June 8, 1908 to elect members of the 12th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
53.53 | 57 | 39.92 | 14 | 6.55 | 3 | Ligue nationaliste | 74 | |||||||
| 1904 Quebec general election, 1904 The Quebec general election of 1904 was held on November 25, 1904 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Simon-Napoléon Parent, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Edmund James Flynn.It... |
55.43 | 67 | 42.73 | 7 | 1.84 | 74 | |||||||||
| 1900 Quebec general election, 1900 The Quebec general election of 1900 was held on December 7, 1900 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
53.15 | 67 | 41.85 | 7 | 5.00 | 74 | |||||||||
| 1897 Quebec general election, 1897 The Quebec general election of 1897 was held on May 11, 1897 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Quebec Liberal Party, led by Félix-Gabriel Marchand, defeated the incumbent Quebec Conservative Party, led by Edmund James Flynn.This marked the start of... |
53.28 | 51 | 43.82 | 23 | 2.90 | 74 | |||||||||
| 1892 Quebec general election, 1892 In the Quebec general election of 1892 on March 8, 1892 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Conservative Party, led by Charles-Eugène Boucher de Boucherville, defeated the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Honoré Mercier.Mercier had been... |
43.65 | 21 | 52.41 | 52 | 13.94 | 73 | |||||||||
| 1890 Quebec general election, 1890 The Quebec general election of 1890 was held on June 17, 1890 to elect members of the 7th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Honoré Mercier, was re-elected, defeating the Quebec Conservative Party, led by Louis-Olivier Taillon.A... |
44.20 | 43 | 45.11 | 24 | 10.69 | 6 | Parti national (5); Parti ouvrier |
73 | |||||||
| 1886 Quebec general election, 1886 The Quebec general election of 1886 on October 14, 1886 to elect members of the 6th Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Parti libéral du Québec, led by Honoré Mercier, won a majority of seats against the Parti conservateur du Québec, led by John Jones Ross.The... |
39.58 | 33 | 46.19 | 29 | 14.23 | 3 | Parti national | 65 | |||||||
| 1881 Quebec general election, 1881 The Quebec general election of 1881 was held on December 2, 1881 to elect members of the 5th Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
38.97 | 15 | 50.38 | 50 | 10.65 | 65 | |||||||||
| 1878 Quebec general election, 1878 The Quebec general election of 1878 was held on May 1, 1878 to elect members of the 4th Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
47.49 | 49.49 | 34 | 3.02 | 65 | ||||||||||
| 1875 Quebec general election, 1875 The Quebec general election of 1875 was held on July 7, 1875 to elect members of the 3rd Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
38.59 | 19 | 50.67 | 46 | 10.74 | 65 | |||||||||
| 1871 Quebec general election, 1871 The Quebec general election of 1871 was held in June and July of 1871 to elect members of the 2nd Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
39.43 | 19 | 51.72 | 46 | 8.84 | 65 | |||||||||
| 1867 Quebec general election, 1867 The Quebec general election of 1867 was held in August and September of 1867 to elect members of the 1st Legislative Assembly for the Province of Quebec, Canada... |
35.40 | 13 | 53.48 | 11.12 | 65 | ||||||||||