1979 Alberta general election

1979 Alberta general election

← 1975 March 14, 1979 (1979-03-14) 1982 →

79 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta
40 seats were needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
SC
Leader Peter Lougheed Robert C. Clark
Party Progressive Conservative Social Credit
Leader since 1965 1975
Leader's seat Calgary-West Olds-Didsbury
Last election 69 seats, 62.7% 4 seats, 18.2%
Seats before 69 4
Seats won 74 4
Seat change Increase5 ±0
Popular vote 408,097 141,284
Percentage 57.4% 19.87%
Swing Decrease5.25% Increase1.7%

  Third party Fourth party
 
LIB
Leader Grant Notley Nicholas Taylor
Party New Democratic Liberal
Leader since 1968 1974
Leader's seat Spirit River-Fairview ran in Calgary-Glenmore (lost)
Last election 1 seat, 12.9% 0 seats, 4.98%
Seats before 1 0
Seats won 1 0
Seat change ±0 ±0
Popular vote 111,984 43,792
Percentage 15.75% 6.16%
Swing Increase2.81% Increase1.18%

Premier before election

Peter Lougheed
Progressive Conservative

Premier after election

Peter Lougheed
Progressive Conservative

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The 1979 Alberta general election was held on March 14, 1979, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, which had been expanded to 79 seats.

The Progressive Conservative Party of Peter Lougheed won its third consecutive term in government. During the campaign, some Progressive Conservatives spoke of winning "79 in '79", i.e., all 79 seats in the legislature. This harkened back to Social Credit's unofficial slogan from the 1963 election, "63 in '63". The Tories came up short of this goal, and actually lost over five percentage points of the popular vote. Nonetheless, they still won an overwhelming majority, with 74 seats.

Social Credit held on to the four seats they had won in the 1975 election, and formed the official opposition in the legislature. Grant Notley, leader of the Alberta New Democratic Party, was the only other opposition member.