1993 Prince Edward Island general election

March 29, 1993 (1993-03-29)
All 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Lib PC Leader Catherine Callbeck Pat Mella Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since January 23, 1993 November 10, 1990 Leader's seat 1st Queens 3rd Queens Last election 30 seats, 60.7% 2 seats, 35.8% Seats won 31 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 80,443 57,549 Percentage 55.1% 39.5% Swing 5.6pp 3.7pp
Map of PEI's ridings coloured in based on how they voted
Premier before election Catherine Callbeck Liberal Premier after election Catherine Callbeck Liberal

The 1993 Prince Edward Island general election was held on March 29, 1993.^[1]

The campaign resulted in the re-election of the governing Liberals under Premier Catherine Callbeck, the province's first female premier, who had taken over only two months previous from former premier Joe Ghiz. Despite dropping in the popular vote, the Liberals gained on its seat tally, taking 31 of 32 seats, with only PC Leader Pat Mella as the sole opposition member in the Legislature.

This election featured several notable events. It was the first to see a female party leader lead her party to a victory in a general election,^[2] it was also the first to feature two women leading the two major parties. It was the last to use the dual-member constituencies that had been in place since 1893.

Party standings

Members elected

The Legislature of Prince Edward Island had two levels of membership from 1893 to 1996 - Assemblymen and Councillors. This was a holdover from when the Island had a bicameral legislature, the General Assembly and the Legislative Council.

In 1893, the Legislative Council was abolished and had its membership merged with the Assembly, though the two titles remained separate and were elected by different electoral franchises. Assemblymen were elected by all eligible voters within a district. Before 1963, Councillors were only elected by landowners within a district, but afterward they were elected in the same manner as Assemblymen.^[3]

Sources