Prince Edward Island general election, 2015

Prince Edward Island general election, 2015

May 4, 2015 (2015-05-04)

All 27 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 14 seats needed for a majority Opinion polls   First party Second party   LIB PC Leader Wade MacLauchlan Rob Lantz Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since February 21, 2015 February 28, 2015 Leader's seat York-Oyster Bed Ran in Charlottetown-Brighton (lost) Last election 22 seats, 51.39% 5 seats, 40.18% Seats before 20 3 Seats won 18 8 Seat change 2 5 Percentage 40.83% 37.39% Swing 10.56pp 2.79pp   Third party Fourth party   NDP Leader Peter Bevan-Baker Michael Redmond Party Green New Democratic Leader since November 3, 2012 October 13, 2012 Leader's seat Kellys Cross-Cumberland Ran in Montague-Kilmuir (lost) Last election 0 seats, 4.36% 0 seats, 3.16% Seats before 0 0 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 1 ±0 Percentage 10.81% 10.97% Swing 6.45pp 7.81pp

Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding.

Premier before election Wade MacLauchlan Liberal Premier-designate Wade MacLauchlan Liberal

The 65th Prince Edward Island general election was held May 4, 2015 to elect members of the 65th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island.^[1] Under amendments passed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 2008, Prince Edward Island elections are usually held on the first Monday of October in the fourth calendar year, unless it is dissolved earlier by the Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island due to a motion of no confidence. The current government had hinted that an election would be held "before Mother's Day" 2015, and such a dissolution would avoid any conflicts with the next federal election, expected to be held in October 2015.

The governing Liberals were elected to a third consecutive majority government under new leader Wade MacLauchlan, while the Progressive Conservatives made slight gains despite party leader Rob Lantz failing to win election in Charlottetown-Brighton. The Green Party, meanwhile, won its first seat in the legislature, with leader Peter Bevan-Baker elected in Kellys Cross-Cumberland.^[2] The New Democratic Party was shut out.

Standings

Summary of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island election results

Results by region

Timeline

2011

• October 3: The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party under Robert Ghiz is re-elected with a majority government in the 64th Prince Edward Island general election.

2012

• October 13: The New Democratic Party elects Michael Redmond as party leader.^[3]
• November 3: The Green Party elects Peter Bevan-Baker as party leader^[4]
• December 5: Progressive Conservative leader Olive Crane announces her intention to resign as party leader in January 2013 after party members narrowly vote against having a leadership review. Crane further announces that she will stay on as Leader of the Opposition.^[5]

2013

• January 30: Olive Crane resigns as Leader of the Opposition. The Progressive Conservative caucus names Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry, a candidate for the interim leadership, as Leader of the Opposition.^[6][7]
• January 31: Olive Crane resigns as Progressive Conservative leader. Georgetown-St. Peters MLA Steven Myers is elected interim PC leader over Leader of the Opposition and Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry. Perry initially announces that he will remain Leader of the Opposition, despite Myers' urging that the party leader should hold both positions.^[8]
• February 11: Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry steps down as Leader of the Opposition, citing internal divisions within the Progressive Conservative Party.^[9] Interim PC leader and Georgetown-St. Peters MLA Steven Myers is subsequently named Leader of the Opposition.
• October 3: In what is believed to be the first instance of a sitting MLA crossing the floor, Tignish-Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry leaves the Progressive Conservatives to join the Liberals, citing his concerns with the federal Conservative governments changes to employment insurance.^[10]
• October 4: Morell-Mermaid MLA and former Progressive Conservative leader Olive Crane is kicked out of the party. Crane subsequently announces she will sit as an independent.^[11]

2014

• November 13: Robert Ghiz announces he will be resigning as Premier in early 2015 as soon as the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party elects a new leader.^[12]

2015

• February 21: The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party held its leadership election. As the sole candidate nominated, Wade MacLauchlan was acclaimed the new leader and incoming premier.^[13]
• February 23: Robert Ghiz resigns as Premier. Wade MacLauchlan is appointed and sworn in as the new Premier.^[14] Later that day, Ghiz, Wes Sheridan, and Robert Vessey resign as MLAs, triggering potential by-elections in their former seats (Charlottetown-Brighton, Kensington-Malpeque, and York-Oyster Bed, respectively).^[15]
• February 28: At the party's leadership election, Rob Lantz is elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island.^[16]
• April 6: After being nominated as the Liberal candidate for York-Oyster Bed, Premier Wade MacLauchlin dropped the writ, calling for an election on May 4, 2015.
• April 10: The Island Party drops out of the campaign, due to not having enough candidates ^[17]
• April 27: Party leaders' first televised debate, held in Summerside.^[18]
• April 30: A second televised debate was held for the party leaders, in Charlottetown.^[19]
• May 4: Election results - The Liberals win a third consecutive majority government, with a reduced number of 18 seats. The Progressive Conservatives remain as the official opposition, with an increase to 8 seats. The Greens make Prince Edward Island political history, winning their first seat.

Opinion polls

Voting intentions since the 2011 election.

Candidates

• Bold designates member of cabinet or Leader of the Party
• Italics in the Candidate section designates a person seeking the party nomination

Cardigan

• This riding vote count resulted in a tie between McIsaac and McInnis. As a result, a coin toss was held, which determined McIsaac, the Liberal candidate, as the winner.^[20]

Malpeque

Charlottetown

Egmont

References

External links

• P.E.I. Votes 2015: Tracking the candidates

Politics of Prince Edward Island
Lieutenant Governor	H. Frank Lewis Former lieutenant governors
Premier	Wade MacLauchlan Former premiers
Opposition Leader	Jamie Fox Former Opposition Leaders
Speaker of the Assembly	Buck Watts Former speakers
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See also: List of Prince Edward Island by-elections

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