1989 Newfoundland general election

The 1989 Newfoundland general election was held on April 20, 1989 to elect members of the 41st General Assembly of Newfoundland. It was won by the Liberal party despite polling fewer votes than the Conservatives.

1989 Newfoundland general election

← 1985 April 20, 1989 (1989-04-20) 1993 →

52 seats of the Newfoundland House of Assembly
27 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Clyde Wells Tom Rideout Cle Newhook
Party Liberal Progressive Conservative New Democratic
Leader's seat Ran in Humber East (lost) Baie Verte-Springdale Ran in St. John's East Extern (lost)
Last election 15 36 1
Seats won 31 21 0
Seat change Increase16 Decrease15 Decrease1
Popular vote 137,271 138,609 12,929
Percentage 47.2% 47.6% 4.4%
Swing Increase10.5pp Decrease1.0pp Decrease10.0pp

Premier before election

Tom Rideout
Progressive Conservative

Premier after election

Clyde Wells
Liberal

Unusually, however, Liberal leader Clyde Wells was defeated by Lynn Verge in his own riding of Humber East despite having led his party to victory. Consequently, a member of his caucus, Eddie Joyce, resigned shortly after the election, and Wells was acclaimed to office in the riding of Bay of Islands.[1] Seven years later, Verge was the leader of the Progressive Conservatives during the 1996 election, and she also lost Humber East in the election, though her party did not win that election.

Opinion polls

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Evolution of voting intentions at provincial level
Polling firm Last day
of survey
Source LPNL PCNL NLNDP Other ME Sample
Election 1989 April 20, 1989 47.2 47.6 4.4 0.8
Omnifacts April 1989 [2] 41.6 52.1 6.3 4.1 622
April 1989 [3] 43.9 50 6.1 1,305
Election 1985 November 6, 1984 36.7 48.6 14.4 0.3

Results

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Summary of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador election results[4]
Party Party leader Candidates Seats Popular vote
1985 Dissol. 1989 Change # % % Change
Liberal Clyde Wells 52 15 14 31   +16 137,271 47.2 +10.5
Progressive Conservative Tom Rideout 52 36 34 21   −15 138,609 47.6 –1.0
New Democratic Cle Newhook 36 1 2 0   −1 12,929 4.4 –10.0
  Independents 5 0 0 0   0 2,138 0.8 +0.5
  Vacant 2
Total 145 52 52 52 - 291,785 100 -

References

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  1. ^ Newfoundland and Labrador Votes 2007: Bay of Islands. cbc.ca.
  2. ^ "Polls put Newfoundland Tories out in front". The Ottawa Citizen. April 17, 1989. p. A5.
  3. ^ "Newfoundland Tories still No. 1, but barely". The Windsor Star. April 17, 1989. p. A8.
  4. ^ "At a glance". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver, B.C. April 21, 1989. p. A9.
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Further reading

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