2019 Prince Edward Island general election

2019 Prince Edward Island general election

← 2015 23 April 2019 (2019-04-23) (15 July 2019 (2019-07-15)[a]) 2023 →

27 seats[1] in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island
14 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout76.28%Decrease[2]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Dennis King Peter Bevan-Baker Wade MacLauchlan
Party Progressive Conservative Green Liberal
Leader since 9 February 2019 3 November 2012 21 February 2015
Leader's seat Brackley-Hunter River New Haven-Rocky Point Ran in Stanhope-Marshfield (lost)
Last election 8 seats, 37.39% 1 seat, 10.81% 18 seats, 40.83%
Seats before 8 2 16
Seats won 13[3] 8 6
Seat change Increase5 Increase6 Decrease10
Popular vote 30,415 25,302 24,346
Percentage 36.73% 30.56% 29.40%
Swing Decrease0.66% Increase19.75% Decrease11.43%

Popular vote by district. As this is a FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead by the result in each district. District names are listed at the bottom. The results of the deferred Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park election are included in a separate inset.

Premier before election

Wade MacLauchlan
Liberal

Premier after election

Dennis King
Progressive Conservative

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The 2019 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the members of the 66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The vote in 26 of the 27 districts was held on 23 April 2019,[4] while the vote for the member from Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park was deferred to 15 July due to the death of the Green Party's candidate.[5][b] However, Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park still voted in a referendum on electoral reform. Natalie Jameson won the deferred election in the district.[7]

The Progressive Conservatives under new leader Dennis King won thirteen seats (including the deferred seat) to form a minority government. The Greens under leader Peter Bevan-Baker won eight seats to form the Official Opposition. The Liberals under Premier Wade MacLauchlan were reduced to six seats and MacLauchlan lost in his own district. The Progressive Conservatives' share of the popular vote was steady at 37%, the Green Party enjoyed a 20 point increase to 31%, and the Liberals' share dropped 11 points to 30%. The Greens won several seats in or near the two cities of Charlottetown and Summerside, while the Progressive Conservatives took several more rural seats from the Liberals.

A referendum on electoral reform that asked Islanders if they wished to adopt a mixed-member proportional representation voting system was held in conjunction with the election. The initiative failed to pass in at least 60% of the districts as required under provincial legislation to proceed so the province did not change from the first past the post system in subsequent elections. As well, the Island-wide popular vote showed about 51% of voters voted to stay with the current first-past-the-post voting system while about 49% voted for the proposed change.

The election was the first time since the 1890 Prince Edward Island general election that the province elected a minority government,[8] the first time in the province's history that a significant number of voters turned to a third party besides the dominant Liberals and Progressive Conservatives, and the first time that a Green Party reached official opposition status in any Canadian provincial legislature.[9]


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  1. ^ Extension election for vacant seat, held 15 July 2019
  2. ^ "Saltwire | Prince Edward Island". Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  3. ^ 15 July deferred election for vacant seat, won by Progressive Conservative candidate
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference guardian april 23 date was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Byelection to be held in District 9 Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park due to death of candidate". The Guardian. 20 April 2019. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  6. ^ Ross, Shane (20 April 2019). "P.E.I. Green candidate, son die in canoeing accident days before election". CBC News. Archived from the original on 20 April 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  7. ^ CBC (15 July 2019). "Clear win for PC's Natalie Jameson in P.E.I.'s deferred election, CBC projects". CBC News. Archived from the original on 16 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Seven things to know about the P.E.I. election results" Archived 24 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine. CTV News, 23 April 2019.
  9. ^ "PC minority, Green Opposition will be 'a new era in Island politics'" Archived 25 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine. CBC News Prince Edward Island, 23 April 2019.