Ontario general election, 1981

Ontario general election, 1981
Ontario
March 19, 1981
125 seats in the 32nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario
63 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  LIB
Leader Bill Davis Stuart Smith Michael Cassidy
Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic
Leader since February 12, 1971 January 25, 1976 February 5, 1978
Leader's seat Brampton Hamilton West Ottawa Centre
Last election 58 34 33
Seats won 70 34 21
Seat change Increase12 Steady0 Decrease12
Percentage 44.4% 33.7% 21.1%
Swing Increase4.7pp Increase2.2pp Decrease6.9pp
Premier before election

Bill Davis
Progressive Conservative

 Premier-designate

Bill Davis
Progressive Conservative

The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

The governing Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by William Davis, was re-elected for a twelfth consecutive term in office. The PCs finally won a majority government after winning only minorities in the 1975 and 1977 elections. The Liberal Party, led by Stuart Smith, was able to maintain its standing in the Legislature, while the New Democratic Party, led by Michael Cassidy, lost a significant number of seats, allowing the Tories to win a majority.

Results

  Party Leader 1977 Elected % change Popular vote
% change
     Progressive Conservative William Davis 58 70 +20.7% 44.4% +4.7%
     Liberal Stuart Smith 341 34 - 33.7% +2.2%
     New Democratic Michael Cassidy 33 21 -36.4 21.1% -6.9%
Communist Mel Doig - - - 0.16% -0.08%
Libertarian Scott Bell - - - - -
     Other - - - 0.8% -
Total Seats 125 125 - 100%  

1 Includes T. Patrick Reid, a Liberal MPP who was re-elected in 1977 as a Liberal-Labour candidate (he had previously been elected as Liberal-Labour in 1967 but was re-elected in 1971 and 1975 as a straight Liberal). In 1981 he ran again and was re-elected as a straight Liberal.

A number of unregistered parties also fielded candidates in this election.

There were a number of Rhinoceros Party candidates in the Toronto area, and the party may have also fielded candidates elsewhere in the province. The Workers Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist) a single candidate, Judy Darcy. Ronald G. Rodgers, founder of the Détente Party of Canada, contested a Toronto constituency.

Social Credit leader Reg Gervais announced prior to the election that he planned to run in Nickel Belt, but could not follow through and resigned at a meeting of nominated candidates where John Turmel was appointed interim leader of the Ontario Social Credit Party during the campaign, though there has never been independent confirmation of this (nor is it clear if the Ottawa-area candidacies of Turmel and Raymond Turmel and Serge Girard and Dale Alkerton and Andrew Dynowski were approved by the remaining few members of the official Social Credit Party of Ontario).

Constituency results

Algoma:

Algoma—Manitoulin:

Armourdale:

Beaches—Woodbine:

Bellwoods:

Brampton:

Brantford:

Brant—Oxford—Haldimand:

Brock:

Burlington South:

Cambridge:

Carleton:

Carleton East:

Carleton-Grenville:

Chatham—Kent:

Cochrane North:

Cochrane South:

Cornwall:

Don Mills:

Dovercourt:

Downsview:

Dufferin—Simcoe:

Durham East:

Durham West:

Durham—York:

Eglinton:

Elgin:

Erie:

Essex North:

Essex South:

Etobicoke:

Fort William:

Frontenac—Addington:

Grey:

Grey—Bruce:

Haldimand—Norfolk:

Halton—Burlington:

Hamilton Centre:

Hamilton East:

Hamilton Mountain:

Hamilton West:

Hastings—Peterborough:

High Park—Swansea:

Humber:

Huron—Bruce:

Huron—Middlesex:

Kenora:

Kent—Elgin:

Kingston and the Islands:

Kitchener:

Kitchener—Wilmot:

Lake Nipigon:

Lambton:

Lanark—Renfrew:

Lakeshore:

Leeds:

Lincoln:

London Centre:

London North:

London South:

Middlesex:

Mississauga East:

Mississauga North:

Mississauga South:

Muskoka:

Niagara Falls:

Nickel Belt:

Nipissing:

Northumberland:

Oakville:

Oakwood:

Oriole:

Oshawa:

Ottawa Centre:

Ottawa East:

Ottawa South:

Ottawa West:

Oxford:

Parkdale:

Parry Sound:

Perth:

Peterborough:

Port Arthur:

Prescott and Russell:

Prince Edward—Lennox:

Quinte:

Rainy River:

Renfrew North:

Renfrew South:

Riverdale:

St. Andrew—St. Patrick:

St. Catharines:

Party Candidate Votes % +/-
     Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 16,509 51.85
     Progressive Conservative John Larocque 10,273 32.26
     New Democratic Party Don Loucks 4,927 15.47
CommunistNorman J. Newell 132 0.41
Total valid votes 31,841 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 181
Turnout 32,022 57.20

St. David:

St. George:

Sarnia:

Sault Ste. Marie:

Scarborough Centre:

Scarborough East:

Scarborough—Ellesmere:

Scarborough North:

Scarborough West:

Simcoe Centre:

Simcoe East:

Stormont—Dundas and Glengarry:

Sudbury:

Sudbury East:

Timiskaming:

Victoria—Haliburton:

Waterloo North:

Welland—Thorold:

Wellington—Dufferin—Peel:

Wellington South:

Wentworth:

Wentworth North:

Wilson Heights:

Windsor—Riverside:

Windsor—Sandwich:

Windsor—Walkerville:

York Centre:

York East:

York Mills:

York North:

York South:

Yorkview:

York West:

Post-election changes

Hamilton West: Stuart Smith resigned his legislative seat on January 25, 1982, and a by-election was called for June 17, 1982.

York South: Donald C. MacDonald resigned his legislative seat in 1982, and a by-election was called for November 4, 1982.

Frontenac—Addington: Liberal MPP J. Earl McEwen crossed the floor to join the Progressive Conservatives in 1984.

Hamilton Centre: Sheila Copps resigned her legislative seat in 1984, and a by-election was held on December 13, 1984:

Ottawa Centre: Michael Cassidy resigned his legislative seat in 1984, and a by-election was held on December 13, 1984.

Ottawa East: Albert J. Roy resigned his legislative seat in 1984, and a by-election was held on December 13, 1984:

Prescott and Russell: Don Boudria resigned his legislative seat in 1984, and a by-election was held on December 13, 1984:

Wentworth North: Eric Cunningham resigned his legislative seat in 1984, and a by-election was held on December 13, 1984:

Riverdale: Jim Renwick died in 1984.

Kitchener: Jim Breithaupt resigned in 1984.

Rainy River: T. Patrick Reid resigned in 1984.

Eglinton: Roy McMurtry resigned his seat in 1985 to take a government position in the United Kingdom.

See also

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