1982 Alberta general election

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1982 Alberta general election" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

1982 Alberta general election

← 1979 November 2, 1982 (1982-11-02) 1986 →
←  members →
79 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 40 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	66.00%
Majority party Minority party Third party   WCC Leader Peter Lougheed Grant Notley Gordon Kesler Party Progressive Conservative New Democratic Western Canada Concept Leader since 1965 1968 1982 Leader's seat Calgary-West Spirit River-Fairview ran in Highwood (lost) Last election 74 seats, 57.4% 1 seat, 15.8% pre-creation Seats before 73 1 1 Seats won 75 2 0 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 588,485 177,166 111,131 Percentage 62.3% 18.7% 11.8% Swing 4.9% 2.9% —   Fourth party Fifth party   SC ARM Leader George Richardson Tom Sindlinger Party Social Credit Reform Movement Leader since 1982 1982 Leader's seat ran in Whitecourt (lost) Calgary-Buffalo (lost re-election) Last election 4 seats, 19.9% pre-creation Seats before 1 1 Seats won 0 0 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 7,843 6,258 Percentage 0.8% 0.7% Swing 19.1% —
Premier before election Peter Lougheed Progressive Conservative Premier after election Peter Lougheed Progressive Conservative

The 1982 Alberta general election was held on November 2, 1982, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Less than four years had passed since the Progressive Conservatives won their landslide victory in 1979. Premier Peter Lougheed decided to call a snap election to catch fledgling new parties off guard, most notably the separatist Western Canada Concept which was capitalizing on anger over Lougheed's perceived weakness in dealings with the federal government, in particular his acceptance of the hugely unpopular National Energy Program. The WCC's Gordon Kesler had won a by-election earlier in the year, and Lougheed decided that it would be wise to stage a showdown with the WCC sooner rather than later.

Lougheed then proceeded to mount a campaign based largely on

The Alberta Liberal Party was punished in the wake of the NEP. Barely able to field candidates in a third of the ridings, it went down to one of its worst showings in party history.

The

The New Democratic Party, led by Grant Notley, became the official opposition when Ray Martin was elected to the legislature. Notley had been the sole NDP MLA for more than a decade.

The WCC, a party that advocated the separation of the four western provinces of Canada to form a new country, had surprised Canadians when Kesler won his by-election and took a seat in the Alberta legislature. Although Kesler lost his seat in this election after he changed electoral districts from Olds-Didsbury and ran in Highwood, the WCC won almost 12% of the popular vote.

The Alberta Reform Movement, a new party founded by ex-Progressive Conservative Tom Sindlinger was caught unaware when the election was called, and ended up losing its only seat in Calgary Buffalo.

Opinion polls

Results

Overall voter turnout was 66.00%.^[4]

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Results by riding

See also

• List of Alberta political parties

References

Further reading

• Byers, R. B., ed. (1984). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1982. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  ISBN 9781442671966
  .