1986 Prince Edward Island general election

1986 Prince Edward Island general election

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All 32 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island 17 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	87.60%[1]
First party Second party   PC Leader Joe Ghiz James Lee Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since October 24, 1981 November 7, 1981 Leader's seat 6th Queens 5th Queens (lost) Last election 11 seats, 45.8% 21 seats, 53.7% Seats won 21 11 Seat change 10 10 Popular vote 75,187 68,062 Percentage 50.3% 45.5% Swing 4.5pp 8.2pp
Seats won by each party per district. Voters elect two members (one Councillor and Assemblyman) from each of the 16 districts.
Premier before election James Lee Progressive Conservative Premier after election Joe Ghiz Liberal

The 1986 Prince Edward Island general election was held on April 21, 1986.^[2]

The election resulted in the defeat of the two-term Progressive Conservative government by the Liberals led by Joe Ghiz. Ghiz, the son of a Lebanese store owner, went on to become the first Canadian premier that was not of complete European descent.^[3]

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. Assembleymen were elected by all eligible voters of 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.^[4]