1971 Ontario general election

The 1971 Ontario general election was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

29th Legislature

1971 Ontario general election

October 21, 1971
117 seats in the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 59 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Bill Davis Robert Nixon Stephen Lewis Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since February 12, 1971 January 6, 1967 October 4, 1970 Leader's seat Brampton Brant Scarborough West Last election 69 28 20 Seats won 78 20 19 Seat change 9 8 1 Percentage 44.5% 27.8% 27.1% Swing 2.2pp 3.8pp 1.2pp
Premier before election Bill Davis Progressive Conservative Premier after election Bill Davis Progressive Conservative

The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by Bill Davis, who had replaced John Robarts as PC leader and premier earlier in the year, won a ninth consecutive term in office, and maintained its majority in the legislature, increasing its caucus in the legislature by eight seats from its result in the previous election.

The Ontario Liberal Party, led by Robert Nixon, lost seven seats, but continued in the role of official opposition.

The social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Stephen Lewis, lost one seat.

This election marked the first time that the provincial election was held on a Thursday. Subsequently, every provincial election has also been held on a Thursday, with the exception of the 2007 Ontario general election, which was held on a Wednesday.

Results

	Party	Leader	1967	Elected	% change	Popular vote
%	change
	Progressive Conservative	Bill Davis	69	78	+11.6%	44.5%	+2.2%
	Liberal	Robert Nixon	28^1	20	-25.9%	27.8%	-3.8%
	New Democratic	Stephen Lewis	20	19	-5.0%	27.1%	+1.2%
Total Seats			117	117	-	100%

¹ Includes T. Patrick Reid of Rainy River who was elected in 1967 as "Liberal-Labour" but was re-elected in 1971 as a Liberal.

Popular vote PC   44.50% Liberal   27.80% New Democratic   27.10% Others   0.60%

Seats summary PC   66.67% Liberal   17.09% New Democratic   16.24%

See also

• Politics of Ontario
• List of Ontario political parties
• Premier of Ontario
• Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)