1981 Quebec general election

The 1981 Quebec general election was held on April 13, 1981, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Premier René Lévesque, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Claude Ryan.

1981 Quebec general election

← 1976 April 13, 1981 1985 →

122 seats in the 32nd National Assembly of Quebec
62 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout82.52% (Decrease2.75%)
  First party Second party Third party
  UN
Leader René Lévesque Claude Ryan Roch LaSalle
Party Parti Québécois Liberal Union Nationale
Leader since October 14, 1968 April 15, 1978 January 9, 1981
Leader's seat Taillon Argenteuil Ran in Berthier (lost)
Last election 71 seats, 41.37% 26 seats, 33.78% 11 seats, 18.20%
Seats won 80 42 0
Seat change Increase9 Increase16 Decrease11
Popular vote 1,773,237 1,658,753 144,070
Percentage 49.26% 46.07% 4.00%
Swing Increase7.89% Increase12.29% Decrease14.20%

Premier before election

René Lévesque
Parti Québécois

Premier after election

René Lévesque
Parti Québécois

The PQ won re-election despite having lost the 1980 Quebec referendum on sovereignty-association, the party's proposal for political independence for Quebec in an economic union with the rest of Canada. To some extent, they were helped by Claude Ryan's old-fashioned campaign style: he refused to tailor sound bites for the evening news and ran a campaign generally unsuited for television coverage. Despite finishing only three percent behind the PQ, the Liberals still finished a distant second, with 42 seats to the PQ's 80. Historically, provincial elections in Quebec produce large disparities between the popular vote and the actual seat count.

The Union Nationale, which had won 11 seats in a modest comeback in the 1976 general election, was reduced to five seats at dissolution by numerous floor crossings, retirements and resignations. Among the departures was that of its leader in the 1976 election, Rodrigue Biron, who crossed the floor to the PQ. The once-proud party lost all of its remaining seats, never to return. The party essentially ended at this point, though it lingered in desultory fashion until 1989.

Redistribution of ridings edit

A 1979 Act [1] provided for the creation of the Commission de la représentation électorale, charged with the task of the redistribution of riding boundaries for elections to the National Assembly. For its initial work, it had to create a sufficient number of ridings that would have an average of 34,000 electors.[2] In April 1980, the Commission increased the number of electoral districts from 110 to 122, effective with the next election:[3]

Abolished ridings New ridings
Drawn from parts of other ridings
Reorganization of ridings
Division of ridings
Renaming of ridings
  1. ^ from parts of Chambly and Verchères
  2. ^ from parts of Papineau
  3. ^ from parts of Terrebonne
  4. ^ from part of Chauveau
  5. ^ from parts of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Marguerite-Bourgeoys and Jacques-Cartier
  6. ^ from parts of Abitibi-Est and Abitibi-Ouest
  7. ^ from parts of Viau and Jeanne-Mance

Campaign edit

The Liberals and péquistes fielded full slates, while the Unionists decided not to run a candidate in the new riding of Ungava. The Parti national populaire ceased operations after its co-founder and only MNA Fabien Roy decided to leave the Legislature in 1979 for the federal level to lead the Social Credit Party of Canada.

The Ralliement créditiste dissolved in 1978 when its leader Camil Samson created Les Démocrates, but that party failed to secure enough nominations for the coming election and thus dissolved in 1980. Samson would later join the Liberals, and would run as a candidate for that party in Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue.

Other disaffected créditistes opted to join the United Social Credit which had been revived by Jean-Paul Poulin.

Riding contests, by number of candidates (1981)[4]
Candidates PQ Lib UN Ind Comm-W FOC Ltn ML PCSU Workers Comm LSO Total
2 1 1 2
3 48 48 48 144
4 35 35 35 7 5 2 1 13 5 2 140
5 14 14 14 4 5 5 6 5 2 1 70
6 11 11 11 4 10 3 1 9 1 3 1 1 66
7 6 6 6 3 6 6 3 3 2 1 42
8 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 1 32
9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9
10 2 2 2 4 2 1 1 2 1 1 2 20
Total 122 122 121 27 33 12 10 40 16 10 10 2 525

Results edit

All seats were won by either the PQ or the Liberals, and no other party received better than a third-place result. The UN was once more shut out of the National Assembly. The election was notable for a large number of fringe parties, none of which received as much as 0.2% of the popular vote.

Elections to the National Assembly of Quebec (1981)[4]
Political party Party leader MNAs Votes
Candidates 1976 1981 ± # ± % ± (pp)
Parti Québécois René Lévesque 122 71 80 9  1,773,237 382,886  49.26% 7.89 
Liberal Claude Ryan 122 26 42 16  1,658,753 523,697  46.08% 12.30 
Union Nationale Roch LaSalle 121 11 11  144,070 467,596  4.00% 14.20 
Independent 27 4,372 8,612  0.12% 0.27 
Workers' Communist Roger Rashi 33 4,956 4,956  0.14% New
Freedom of Choice Duncan McDonald 12 4,955 4,955  0.14% New
Libertarian Victor Levis 10 3,299 3,299  0.09% New
Marxist–Leninist Robert Verrier 40 3,178 3,178  0.09% New
United Social Credit[a 1] Jean-Paul Poulin 16 1,284 154,167  0.04% 4.59 
Workers 10 1,027 222  0.03% 0.01 
Communist Sam Walsh 10 768 1,008  0.02% 0.03 
Socialist-Workers 2 198 110  0.01% 0.01 
Total 525 110 122 3,600,097 100.00%
Rejected ballots 38,523 31,923 
Voter turnout 3,638,620 207,668  82.52 2.75 
Registered electors 4,409,276 385,533 
  1. ^ successor to the Ralliement créditiste
Seats and popular vote by party
Party Seats Votes Change (pp)
 Parti Québécois
80 / 122
49.26%
7.89 7.89
 
 Liberal
42 / 122
46.08%
12.03 12.03
 
 Union Nationale
0 / 122
4.00%
-14.20
 
 United Social Credit
0 / 122
0.04%
-4.59
 
 Parti national populaire
0 / 122
0.00%
-0.92
 
 Independent
0 / 122
0.12%
-0.27
 
 Other
0 / 122
0.71%
0.06 0.06
 


Synopsis of results edit

Results by riding - 1981 Quebec general election[4][5]
Riding Winning party Turnout
[a 1]
Votes
Name 1976 Party Votes Share Margin
#
Margin
%
PQ Lib UN Ind Oth Total
 
Abitibi-Est PQ PQ 13,790 62.57% 7,198 32.66% 74.62% 13,790 6,592 1,658 22,040
Abitibi-Ouest PQ PQ 16,033 65.14% 8,384 34.06% 79.41% 16,033 7,649 932 24,614
Anjou PQ PQ 20,355 56.81% 5,420 15.13% 85.54% 20,355 14,935 543 35,833
Argenteuil Lib Lib 15,895 57.23% 4,996 17.99% 81.92% 10,899 15,895 778 200 27,772
Arthabaska PQ PQ 18,424 53.64% 5,304 15.44% 85.50% 18,424 13,120 2,623 180 34,347
Beauce-Nord PQ PQ 18,858 53.39% 4,828 13.67% 85.25% 18,858 14,030 2,433 35,321
Beauce-Sud PNP Lib 13,393 46.89% 97 0.34% 82.95% 13,296 13,393 1,519 357 28,565
Beauharnois PQ PQ 18,741 54.01% 4,120 11.87% 86.95% 18,741 14,621 970 370 34,702
Bellechasse UN PQ 9,194 37.58% 364 1.49% 82.56% 9,194 8,830 6,440 24,464
Berthier PQ Lib 10,676 37.34% 1,222 4.27% 85.41% 9,454 10,676 8,461 28,591
Bertrand New PQ 19,091 60.44% 7,405 23.44% 88.74% 19,091 11,686 810 31,587
Bonaventure Lib Lib 11,609 53.95% 2,133 9.91% 79.39% 9,476 11,609 432 21,517
Bourassa PQ PQ 15,597 50.37% 923 2.98% 83.81% 15,597 14,674 571 124 30,966
Bourget PQ PQ 15,810 56.07% 4,254 15.09% 84.82% 15,810 11,556 588 45 200 28,199
Brome-Missisquoi UN Lib 15,832 62.57% 7,827 30.93% 81.32% 8,005 15,832 1,178 289 25,304
Chambly PQ PQ 15,189 51.39% 1,645 5.57% 87.93% 15,189 13,544 752 70 29,555
Champlain PQ PQ 17,789 53.57% 4,937 14.87% 84.64% 17,789 12,852 2,462 101 33,204
Chapleau New Lib 15,364 53.44% 2,484 8.64% 76.41% 12,880 15,364 413 95 28,752
Charlesbourg PQ PQ 19,884 57.32% 5,998 17.29% 85.98% 19,884 13,886 762 155 34,687
Charlevoix Lib Lib 12,712 50.65% 799 3.18% 84.32% 11,913 12,712 473 25,098
Châteauguay PQ PQ 18,855 51.45% 1,778 4.85% 86.68% 18,855 17,077 574 140 36,646
Chauveau PQ PQ 18,991 55.97% 4,918 14.49% 82.93% 18,991 14,073 866 33,930
Chicoutimi PQ PQ 24,456 73.91% 16,632 50.26% 80.13% 24,456 7,824 811 33,091
Chomedey New Lib 20,933 66.24% 10,808 34.20% 83.72% 10,125 20,933 543 31,601
Crémazie PQ PQ 16,938 51.46% 1,583 4.81% 85.85% 16,938 15,355 545 80 32,918
D'Arcy-McGee Lib Lib 26,064 91.96% 24,532 86.56% 78.53% 1,532 26,064 111 635 28,342
Deux-Montagnes PQ PQ 16,149 53.00% 2,830 9.29% 85.83% 16,149 13,319 767 104 133 30,472
Dorion PQ PQ 14,551 51.54% 1,894 6.71% 82.58% 14,551 12,657 524 74 429 28,235
Drummond PQ PQ 19,359 55.31% 5,911 16.89% 84.44% 19,359 13,448 2,099 95 35,001
Dubuc PQ PQ 16,630 64.64% 8,296 32.25% 82.30% 16,630 8,334 762 25,726
Duplessis PQ PQ 19,962 65.30% 10,041 32.85% 73.70% 19,962 9,921 514 173 30,570
Fabre PQ PQ 15,361 52.78% 2,265 7.78% 87.25% 15,361 13,096 648 29,105
Frontenac PQ PQ 16,549 53.29% 7,098 22.86% 85.70% 16,549 9,451 4,903 152 31,055
Gaspé UN PQ 12,136 47.08% 1,232 4.78% 81.08% 12,136 10,904 2,739 25,779
Gatineau Lib Lib 12,244 54.56% 2,416 10.77% 81.71% 9,828 12,244 369 22,441
Gouin PQ PQ 15,563 57.76% 5,209 19.33% 80.64% 15,563 10,354 607 66 352 26,942
Groulx New PQ 20,317 57.20% 6,074 17.10% 84.78% 20,317 14,243 861 101 35,522
Hull PQ Lib 15,572 49.76% 456 1.46% 80.19% 15,116 15,572 263 96 247 31,294
Huntingdon UN Lib 13,454 56.91% 5,088 21.52% 81.79% 8,366 13,454 1,821 23,641
Iberville PQ PQ 16,822 49.18% 1,939 5.67% 85.63% 16,822 14,883 2,498 34,203
Îles-de-la-Madeleine PQ PQ 5,278 63.79% 2,427 29.33% 88.30% 5,278 2,851 57 88 8,274
Jacques-Cartier Lib Lib 25,894 79.52% 20,911 64.22% 83.04% 4,983 25,894 259 1,122 304 32,562
Jean-Talon Lib Lib 17,290 52.28% 2,246 6.79% 85.96% 15,044 17,290 526 215 33,075
Jeanne-Mance PQ Lib 19,652 58.65% 6,180 18.44% 84.46% 13,472 19,652 385 33,509
Johnson UN PQ 13,131 47.90% 806 2.94% 85.31% 13,131 12,325 1,959 27,415
Joliette New PQ 16,343 51.95% 5,200 16.53% 86.46% 16,343 11,143 3,971 31,457
Jonquière PQ PQ 23,562 65.99% 12,235 34.27% 83.63% 23,562 11,327 582 235 35,706
Kamouraska-Témiscouata PQ PQ 14,702 54.95% 4,189 15.66% 77.88% 14,702 10,513 1,539 26,754
L'Acadie Lib Lib 22,784 68.16% 12,630 37.79% 83.92% 10,154 22,784 369 118 33,425
L'Assomption PQ PQ 22,605 61.61% 10,455 28.50% 87.04% 22,605 12,150 1,934 36,689
La Peltrie New PQ 17,975 57.31% 5,337 17.02% 86.78% 17,975 12,638 749 31,362
Labelle[a 2] PQ PQ 17,596 57.70% 5,774 18.93% 79.93% 17,596 11,822 1,079 30,497
Lac-Saint-Jean PQ PQ 19,602 62.32% 8,954 28.47% 86.29% 19,602 10,648 1,205 31,455
LaFontaine PQ PQ 20,028 62.08% 8,534 26.45% 83.85% 20,028 11,494 607 131 32,260
Laporte PQ Lib 19,316 60.09% 7,097 22.08% 84.02% 12,219 19,316 509 103 32,147
La Prairie PQ Lib 19,070 49.26% 328 0.85% 85.49% 18,742 19,070 813 91 38,716
Laurier Lib Lib 16,719 57.99% 6,848 23.75% 80.21% 9,871 16,719 675 336 1,229 28,830
Laval-des-Rapides New PQ 18,667 57.93% 5,840 18.12% 85.14% 18,667 12,827 658 70 32,222
Laviolette PQ PQ 16,403 56.44% 5,067 17.43% 82.81% 16,403 11,336 1,324 0 29,063
Lévis PQ PQ 24,444 59.42% 8,804 21.40% 85.74% 24,444 15,640 972 82 41,138
Limoilou PQ PQ 17,317 54.43% 3,881 12.20% 81.01% 17,317 13,436 851 213 31,817
Lotbinière UN PQ 11,653 48.94% 1,365 5.73% 85.12% 11,653 10,288 1,872 23,813
Louis-Hébert PQ PQ 20,345 61.36% 8,127 24.51% 84.34% 20,345 12,218 473 121 33,157
Maisonneuve PQ PQ 16,930 57.82% 5,523 18.86% 80.23% 16,930 11,407 513 429 29,279
Marguerite-Bourgeoys Lib Lib 19,511 67.51% 10,541 36.47% 82.74% 8,970 19,511 355 64 28,900
Marie-Victorin New PQ 19,472 65.49% 10,264 34.52% 81.83% 19,472 9,208 772 282 29,734
Marquette New Lib 13,146 50.54% 937 3.60% 82.04% 12,209 13,146 365 293 26,013
Maskinongé Lib Lib 13,248 46.89% 233 0.82% 85.27% 13,015 13,248 1,993 28,256
Matane PQ PQ 13,980 57.08% 4,367 17.83% 79.98% 13,980 9,613 704 197 24,494
Matapédia PQ PQ 10,445 52.49% 3,267 16.42% 79.59% 10,445 7,178 2,276 19,899
Mégantic-Compton UN Lib 11,795 51.73% 2,327 10.21% 82.04% 9,468 11,795 1,539 22,802
Mercier PQ PQ 16,252 54.53% 3,919 13.15% 79.92% 16,252 12,333 495 116 608 29,804
Mille-Îles PQ PQ 16,825 53.97% 3,196 10.25% 88.37% 16,825 13,629 720 31,174
Mont-Royal Lib Lib 21,875 80.69% 17,500 64.55% 78.60% 4,375 21,875 188 671 27,109
Montmagny-L'Islet Lib PQ 11,797 45.50% 231 0.89% 80.14% 11,797 11,566 2,566 25,929
Montmorency PQ PQ 21,791 62.48% 9,553 27.39% 83.53% 21,791 12,238 710 140 34,879
Nelligan[a 3] UN Lib 23,168 73.85% 16,055 51.18% 82.46% 7,113 23,168 375 716 31,372
Nicolet[a 4] UN PQ 9,318 34.86% 362 1.35% 86.13% 9,318 8,956 8,453 26,727
Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Lib Lib 24,821 81.96% 20,540 67.82% 78.53% 4,281 24,821 174 1,008 30,284
Orford Lib Lib 15,828 54.40% 3,642 12.52% 82.13% 12,186 15,828 1,083 29,097
Outremont Lib Lib 15,310 55.12% 3,403 12.25% 81.80% 11,907 15,310 215 68 275 27,775
Papineau PQ Lib 11,717 53.31% 1,976 8.99% 82.07% 9,741 11,717 412 110 21,980
Pontiac New Lib 15,157 67.83% 10,466 46.84% 76.80% 4,691 15,157 704 1,793 22,345
Portneuf Lib Lib 14,120 51.14% 1,513 5.48% 86.96% 12,607 14,120 884 27,611
Prévost PQ PQ 16,137 53.15% 3,054 10.06% 82.10% 16,137 13,083 955 189 30,364
Richelieu PQ PQ 18,198 56.06% 5,173 15.94% 85.85% 18,198 13,025 1,037 77 122 32,459
Richmond UN Lib 10,158 47.43% 253 1.18% 86.14% 9,905 10,158 1,354 21,417
Rimouski PQ PQ 20,106 61.04% 8,963 27.21% 83.89% 20,106 11,143 1,525 163 32,937
Rivière-du-Loup PQ PQ 12,871 55.32% 3,629 15.60% 80.70% 12,871 9,242 1,154 23,267
Robert-Baldwin Lib Lib 26,865 77.84% 20,214 58.57% 82.49% 6,651 26,865 260 735 34,511
Roberval Lib PQ 19,301 57.85% 6,541 19.61% 83.58% 19,301 12,760 1,302 33,363
Rosemont PQ PQ 17,137 52.69% 2,703 8.31% 82.69% 17,137 14,434 588 365 32,524
Rousseau New PQ 14,950 48.50% 2,288 7.42% 80.74% 14,950 12,662 3,107 106 30,825
Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue New PQ 15,649 54.94% 3,915 13.75% 77.94% 15,649 11,734 629 214 257 28,483
Saguenay PQ PQ 17,069 66.56% 8,930 34.82% 75.43% 17,069 8,139 436 25,644
Saint-François PQ PQ 15,990 52.08% 2,124 6.92% 82.77% 15,990 13,866 722 124 30,702
Saint-Henri PQ Lib 14,490 48.22% 71 0.24% 79.68% 14,419 14,490 778 361 30,048
Saint-Hyacinthe UN PQ 14,109 43.64% 2,597 8.03% 83.13% 14,109 11,512 6,708 32,329
Saint-Jacques PQ PQ 15,727 63.44% 7,585 30.60% 72.45% 15,727 8,142 443 62 417 24,791
Saint-Jean PQ PQ 17,687 50.97% 1,950 5.62% 83.59% 17,687 15,737 1,274 34,698
Saint-Laurent Lib Lib 24,176 72.21% 15,309 45.72% 80.90% 8,867 24,176 439 33,482
Saint-Louis Lib Lib 15,781 69.12% 9,584 41.98% 69.49% 6,197 15,781 234 123 495 22,830
Saint-Maurice PQ PQ 15,989 55.64% 4,863 16.92% 84.70% 15,989 11,126 1,505 79 39 28,738
Saint-Anne PQ Lib 11,537 50.89% 1,163 5.13% 74.98% 10,374 11,537 486 272 22,669
Sainte-Marie PQ PQ 13,667 61.35% 6,067 27.24% 75.11% 13,667 7,600 493 135 381 22,276
Sauvé PQ PQ 15,420 52.98% 2,377 8.17% 82.50% 15,420 13,043 550 94 29,107
Shefford Lib PQ 15,632 46.78% 727 2.18% 85.71% 15,632 14,905 2,725 156 33,418
Sherbrooke PQ PQ 16,194 52.83% 2,309 7.53% 83.00% 16,194 13,885 450 125 30,654
Taillon PQ PQ 21,535 67.59% 12,035 37.77% 83.58% 21,535 9,500 619 209 31,863
Taschereau PQ PQ 13,591 56.98% 4,207 17.64% 76.39% 13,591 9,384 566 310 23,851
Terrebonne PQ PQ 19,344 63.25% 8,981 29.36% 84.00% 19,344 10,363 878 30,585
Trois-Rivières PQ PQ 16,070 51.32% 1,950 6.23% 81.51% 16,070 14,120 926 83 113 31,312
Ungava New PQ 9,679 61.53% 3,627 23.06% 53.85% 9,679 6,052 15,731
Vachon New PQ 17,671 57.85% 5,699 18.66% 83.59% 17,671 11,972 901 30,544
Vanier PQ PQ 20,490 62.86% 9,217 28.27% 81.84% 20,490 11,273 655 180 32,598
Vaudreuil-Soulanges PQ Lib 18,992 51.56% 1,955 5.31% 84.92% 17,037 18,992 491 246 66 36,832
Verchères PQ PQ 19,272 55.98% 5,045 14.65% 87.34% 19,272 14,227 930 34,429
Verdun Lib Lib 17,406 61.40% 7,214 25.45% 83.49% 10,192 17,406 415 336 28,349
Viau PQ Lib 16,657 55.19% 4,103 13.60% 81.58% 12,554 16,657 574 394 30,179
Viger New Lib 18,794 59.37% 6,528 20.62% 84.64% 12,266 18,794 598 31,658
Vimont New PQ 16,725 56.03% 4,260 14.27% 87.90% 16,725 12,465 660 29,850
Westmount Lib Lib 22,636 79.87% 17,864 63.03% 77.57% 4,772 22,636 216 105 613 28,342
  1. ^ including spoilt ballots
  2. ^ formerly Laurentides-Labelle
  3. ^ formerly Pointe-Claire
  4. ^ formerly Nicolet-Yamaska
  = open seat
  = turnout is above provincial average
  = winning candidate was in previous Legislature
  = incumbent had switched allegiance
  = previously incumbent in another riding
  = not incumbent; was previously elected to the Legislature
  = incumbency arose from byelection gain
  = other incumbents renominated
  = previously an MP in the House of Commons of Canada
  = multiple candidates

Analysis edit

Candidates ranked 1st to 5th place, by party[4]
Parties 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
 Parti Québécois 80 42
 Liberal 42 80
 Union Nationale 112 6 3
 Marxist–Leninist 4 3 2
 Freedom of Choice 3 6 2
 Independent 2 11 4
 Workers' Communist 23 6
 United Social Credit 6 2
 Communist 2 3
 Workers 1 6
 Socialist-Workers 1 1
Resulting composition of the 31st Quebec Legislative Assembly[5]
Source Party
PQ Lib Total
Seats retained Incumbents returned 49 18 67
Open seats held - new MNAs 8 3 11
Open seats held - return of previous member 1 1
Byelection loss reversed 2 2
Seats changing hands Incumbents defeated - new MNAs 6 6 12
Incumbents defeated - return of previous members 2 2
Open seats gained 1 4 5
Byelection gain held 3 3
Incumbent changed allegiance 1 1 2
Ouster of third-party byelection gain 1 1
New ridings New MNAs 6 6
Previous incumbent from other riding 5 4 9
Former MNA elected 1 1
Total 80 42 110

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ An Act respecting electoral representation, L.Q. 1979, c. 57
  2. ^ 1979 Act, s. 3
  3. ^ "Avis de l'établissement de la liste des circonscriptions électorales" [Notice of the list of electoral constituencies]. Gazette officielle du Québec (Partie 2) (in French). Éditeur officiel du Québec. 122 (21). April 30, 1980. ISSN 0703-5721.
  4. ^ a b c d Drouilly, Pierre (November 7, 2017). "Élections québécoises de 1981". donneesquebec.ca. Atlas des élections au Québec.
  5. ^ a b "Les membres de l'Assemblée nationale par circonscription" [National Assembly members by riding] (in French). National Assembly of Quebec. Retrieved September 13, 2023.

External links edit

Further reading edit