1973 Quebec general election

Quebec general election, 1973

October 29, 1973
110 seats in the 30th National Assembly of Quebec 56 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	80.39%
First party Second party   Leader Robert Bourassa René Lévesque Party Liberal Parti Québécois Leader since January 17, 1970 October 14, 1968 Leader's seat Mercier Lost election in Dorion Last election 72 seats, 45.40% 7 seats, 23.06% Seats won 102 6 Seat change 30 1 Popular vote 1,623,734 897,809 Percentage 54.65% 30.22% Swing 9.25% 7.16%   Third party Fourth party   PC Leader Yvon Dupuis Gabriel Loubier Party Parti créditiste Union Nationale Leader since February 4, 1973 June 19, 1971 Leader's seat Lost election in Saint-Jean Bellechasse (lost re-election) Last election 12 seats, 11.19% 17 seats, 19.65% Seats won 2 0 Seat change 10 17 Popular vote 294,706 146,209 Percentage 9.92% 4.92% Swing 1.27% 14.73%
Premier before election Robert Bourassa Quebec Liberal Party Premier-designate Robert Bourassa Quebec Liberal Party

The Quebec general election of 1973 was held on October 29, 1973 to elect members to National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Premier Robert Bourassa, won re-election, defeating the Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, and the Union Nationale (UN).

The Liberals won one of the largest majority governments in the province's history, with 102 seats. In the process, they reduced the opposition to just eight seats (six PQ, two créditistes) in total. The Parti Québécois held its own, losing only one seat, and despite having fewer seats, became the official Opposition, although PQ leader René Lévesque failed to win a seat in the Assembly.

The Union Nationale, which had held power until the previous 1970 general election, was wiped off the electoral map, winning no seats. However, UN candidate Maurice Bellemare later won a seat in a 1974 by-election.

The popular vote was not lopsided as the distribution of seats would indicate, even though the Liberals won 54 percent of the popular vote. The Parti Québécois, for instance, won 30% of the popular vote, a significant improvement over their previous showing of 23% in the 1970 election. However, their support was spread out across the entire province, and was not concentrated in enough areas to translate into more seats. Quebec elections have historically produced significant disparities in seat counts.

Results

The overall results were:

Party		Party leader	# of candidates	Seats			Popular vote
				1970	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Liberal	Robert Bourassa	110	72	102	+41.7%	1,623,734	54.65%	+9.25%
	Parti Québécois	René Lévesque	110	7	6	-14.3%	897,809	30.22%	+7.16%	Parti créditiste	Yvon Dupuis	109	12	2	-83.8%	294,706	9.92%	-1.27%
	Union Nationale	Gabriel Loubier	110	17	-	-100%	146,209	4.92%	-14.73%
	Marxist–Leninist		14	*	-	*	1,325	0.04%	*	Independent/No designation		26	-	-	-	7,195	0.24%	-0.31%
Total				108	110	-	2,970,978	100%
Note: * Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Vote share PLQ   54.65% PQ   30.22% Ralliement créditiste   9.92% Union Nationale   4.92% Others   0.29%

See also

• List of Quebec premiers
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• List of Quebec political parties
• 30th National Assembly of Quebec

External links

• CBC TV video clip
• Results by party (total votes and seats won)
• Results for all ridings