   the canadian province of prince edward island was a british crown colony before it joined canadian confederation in 1873. it has had a system of responsible government since 1851, and the province kept its own legislature to deal with provincial matters after joining confederation. prince edward island has a unicameral westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the legislative assembly. the premier is prince edward island's head of government, and the queen of canada is its head of state and is represented by the lieutenant governor of prince edward island. the premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the executive council of prince edward island, and presides over that body. members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. general elections must be conducted every five years from the date of the last election, but the premier may ask for early dissolution of the legislative assembly. an election may also take place if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion. prince edward island has had 44&nbsp;government leaders since it became a colony in 1851. the province had 11&nbsp;premiers while a colony and 33&nbsp;premiers after confederation, of which 18 were from the prince edward island progressive conservative party and 26 were from the prince edward island liberal party. ==premiers of prince edward island==  {{legend2|lightcoral|[[prince edward island liberal p
Lists_of_Canadian_first_ministers Premiers_of_Prince_Edward_Island Prince_Edward_Island-related_lists