1981 Nova Scotia general election facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
1981 Nova Scotia general election

← 1978 October 6, 1981 1984 →
← 52nd General Assembly of Nova Scotia members →
52 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 27 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   PC Lib Leader John Buchanan A.M. "Sandy" Cameron Alexa McDonough Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since March 6, 1971 June 8, 1980 November 16, 1980 Leader's seat Halifax Atlantic Guysborough Halifax Chebucto Last election 31 17 4 Seats won 37 13 1 Seat change 7 4 3 Popular vote 200,228 139,604 76,289 Percentage 45.8% 33.2% 18.1% Swing Template:Equal0.0 6.2% 3.7%
Premier before election John Buchanan Progressive Conservative Premier after election John Buchanan Progressive Conservative

The 1981 Nova Scotia general election was a big event in Nova Scotia, Canada. It happened on October 6, 1981. People voted to choose who would represent them in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly. This is like the province's parliament, where laws are made. The party that wins the most seats usually forms the government.

Election Results: Who Won?

In this election, the Progressive Conservative party, led by John Buchanan, won the most seats. This meant they would continue to govern Nova Scotia.

Seats Won by Each Party

• The Progressive Conservative party won 37 out of 52 seats. This was a big increase from the 31 seats they had before.
• The Liberal party, led by A.M. "Sandy" Cameron, won 13 seats. This was a decrease from their previous 17 seats.
• The New Democratic party, led by Alexa McDonough, won only 1 seat. They had won 4 seats in the last election.
• One seat was won by an independent candidate, meaning someone who did not belong to any of the main political parties.

How Many People Voted?

The "popular vote" shows how many people voted for each party across the province.

• The Progressive Conservative party received the most votes, with 200,228 people voting for them. This was about 45.8% of all votes.
• The Liberal party received 139,604 votes, which was about 33.2% of the total.
• The New Democratic party received 76,289 votes, about 18.1% of the total.
• Other candidates received about 1.2% of the votes.

In total, 421,123 people voted in this election. The Progressive Conservative party won because they gained more seats, even though their percentage of the popular vote stayed about the same as the last election.