# 1978 Prince Edward Island general election

The 1978 Prince Edward Island general election was held on April 24, 1978.
The election was one of the closest in P.E.I. history, with the governing Liberals of Premier Alexander B. Campbell losing a number of seats to their Progressive Conservative rivals. The decrease of the 26 to 6 Liberal majority to a slim 17 to 15 lead over the PC, and the resignation of Alex Campbell, led to an unstable legislature, and another election was held just one year later in 1979.

## Party standings

| 17 | 15 |
| Liberal | PC |
| Party | Party | Party Leader | Seats | Seats | Seats | Popular Vote | Popular Vote | Popular Vote |
| Party | Party | Party Leader | 1974 | Elected | Change | # | % | Change |
| | Liberal | Alex Campbell | 26 | 17 | -9 | 64,133 | 50.7% | -3.3% |
| | Progressive Conservative | Angus MacLean | 6 | 15 | +9 | 60,878 | 48.1% | +8.2% |
| | New Democratic | Aquinas Ryan | 0 | 0 | - | 1,173 | 0.9% | -5.3% |
| | Independent | Independent | - | 0 | - | 257 | 0.2% | +0.2% |
Popular vote
Liberal
50.72%
PC
48.15%
New Democratic
0.93%
Others
0.20% :
Seats summary
Liberal
53.13%
PC
46.87% :

## Members elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.
In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of within a district. Before 1963, Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district, but afterward they were elected in the same manner as Assemblymen.

### Kings

| District | Assemblyman | Party | Councillor | Party |
| 1st Kings | Ross "Johnny" Young | Liberal | James Fay | Liberal |
| 2nd Kings | Roddy Pratt | Progressive Conservative | Leo Rossiter | Progressive Conservative |
| 3rd Kings | William Bennett Campbell | Liberal | Bud Ings | Liberal |
| 4th Kings | Pat Binns | Progressive Conservative | Johnnie Williams | Progressive Conservative |
| 5th Kings | Arthur J. MacDonald | Liberal | Lowell Johnston | Progressive Conservative |

### Prince

| District | Assemblyman | Party | Councillor | Party |
| 1st Prince | Russell Perry | Liberal | Robert E. Campbell | Liberal |
| 2nd Prince | George R. Henderson | Liberal | Allison Ellis | Liberal |
| 3rd Prince | Léonce Bernard | Liberal | Edward Clark | Liberal |
| 4th Prince | William MacDougall | Progressive Conservative | Prowse Chappel | Progressive Conservative |
| 5th Prince | George McMahon | Progressive Conservative | Alexander B. Campbell | Liberal |

### Queens

| District | Assemblyman | Party | Councillor | Party |
| 1st Queens | Jean Canfield | Liberal | Ralph Johnstone | Liberal |
| 2nd Queens | David Ford | Liberal | Lloyd MacPhail | Progressive Conservative |
| 3rd Queens | Horace B. Carver | Progressive Conservative | Fred Driscoll | Progressive Conservative |
| 4th Queens | J. Angus MacLean | Progressive Conservative | Daniel Compton | Progressive Conservative |
| 5th Queens | James M. Lee | Progressive Conservative | George Proud | Liberal |
| 6th Queens | Barry Clark | Progressive Conservative | John H. Maloney | Liberal |

## Sources

* ↑ "Provincial General Election Results, 1978" (PDF). Elections PEI. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 23, 2015. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
* ↑ Fred Driscoll. "History and Politics of Prince Edward Island" (PDF). Canadian Parliamentary Review.