1971 Ontario general election

1971 Ontario general election

← 1967 October 21, 1971 1975 →
117 seats in the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 59 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Bill Davis Robert Nixon Stephen Lewis Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since February 12, 1971 January 6, 1967 October 4, 1970 Leader's seat Peel North Brant Scarborough West Last election 69 28 20 Seats won 78 20 19 Seat change 9 8 1 Popular vote 1,465,313 913,742 893,879 Percentage 44.5% 27.8% 27.1% Swing 2.2pp 3.8pp 1.2pp
Premier before election Bill Davis Progressive Conservative Premier after election Bill Davis Progressive Conservative

The 1971 Ontario general election was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario.^[1]

The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by Bill Davis, who had replaced John Robarts as PC leader and premier earlier in the year, won a ninth consecutive term in office, and maintained its majority in the legislature, increasing its caucus in the legislature by eight seats from its result in the previous election.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Robert Nixon, lost seven seats, but continued in the role of official opposition.

The social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Stephen Lewis, lost one seat.

This election marked the first time that the provincial election was held on a Thursday. Subsequently, every provincial election has also been held on a Thursday, with the exception of the 2007 Ontario general election, which was held on a Wednesday.

The electoral franchise was significantly expanded upon the reduction of the voting age from 21 to 18.^[2]