Alberta general election, 1979

Alberta general election, 1979

March 14, 1979 (1979-03-14)

79 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 40 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Peter Lougheed Robert C. Clark Grant Notley Party Progressive Conservative Social Credit New Democratic Leader since 1965 1975 1968 Leader's seat Calgary-West Olds-Didsbury Spirit River-Fairview Last election 69 seats, 62.7% 4 seats, 18.2% 1 seat, 12.9% Seats before 69 4 1 Seats won 74 4 1 Seat change 5 ±0 ±0 Popular vote 408,097 141,284 111,984 Percentage 57.4% 19.9% 15.8% Swing 5.3% 1.7% 2.9%

Premier before election Peter Lougheed Progressive Conservative Premier-designate Peter Lougheed Progressive Conservative

The Alberta general election of 1979 was the nineteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It 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.

Results

Notes:
¹ Percent compared to Independent Progressive Conservative during the 1975 Election.
^* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Members elected

For complete electoral history, see individual districts

See also

• List of Alberta political parties

Elections and referendums in Alberta
General elections	1905 1909 1913 1917 1921 1926 1930 1935 1940 1944 1948 1952 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1997 2001 2004 2008 2012 2015 next
Senate nominee elections	1989 1998 2004 2012
Municipal elections	1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013
Referendums	1915 1920 1923 1948 1957 1967 1971
See also: List of Alberta by-elections