1997 Alberta general election

March 11, 1997 (1997-03-11)
83 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 42 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	53.75%
Majority party Minority party   LIB Leader Ralph Klein Grant Mitchell Party Progressive Conservative Liberal Leader since December 14, 1992 November 13, 1994 Leader's seat Calgary-Elbow Edmonton-McClung Last election 51 seats, 44.49% 32 seats, 39.73% Seats before 52 31 Seats won 63 18 Seat change 11 13 Popular vote 483,914 309,748 Percentage 51.17% 32.75% Swing 6.7% 6.98%   Third party Fourth party   NDP SC Leader Pam Barrett Randy Thorsteinson Party New Democratic Social Credit Leader since 1996 1993 Leader's seat Edmonton-Highlands ran in Red Deer-South (lost) Last election 0 seats, 11.01% 0 seats, 2.41% Seats before 0 0 Seats won 2 0 Seat change 2 0 Popular vote 83,292 64,667 Percentage 8.81% 6.84% Swing 2.2% 4.43%
Premier before election Ralph Klein Progressive Conservative Premier after election Ralph Klein Progressive Conservative

The 1997 Alberta general election was held on March 11, 1997, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

Ralph Klein's Conservatives were re-elected, with increased number of seats in the Legislature. Liberal Official Opposition lost some seats dropping from 32 to 18, but retaining the status of Official Opposition. NDP gained two, to have a grand total of two seats.

Background

The Progressive Conservative Association had governed Alberta since 1971, and premier Ralph Klein led the party into his second general election as party leader. The previous election in 1993 was the best result for the Liberal Party since its last electoral victory in 1917.

This was the second consecutive election fought on a new set of electoral boundaries, due to an Alberta Court of Appeal decision that was critical of the map created in 1992. The government amended the Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, introducing the present system where the commission is made up of a justice from the Court, two members appointed by the governing party, and two members appointed by the official opposition. A new Commission was created, which issued its recommendations for a new set of electoral boundaries in 1996.^[1]

Opinion polls

Results

Ralph Klein's second election as leader of the PCs was considerably more successful than his first. The party won over half the popular vote, and 63 of the 83 seats in the legislature for its eighth consecutive term in government. The party continued to dominate in Calgary and rural areas, and managed to regain a foothold in Edmonton where it won two seats.

The Liberal Party of Grant Mitchell lost about 7% of the popular vote it had won in the 1993 election. The party's legislative caucus was reduced from 32 members to 18.

Pam Barrett led the New Democratic Party back into the legislature with two seats (both in Edmonton), despite winning an even smaller share of the popular vote than in 1993.

The Social Credit Party also re-emerged, placing a strong second in several rural ridings, but did not win any seats.

Overall voter turnout was 53.75%.^[4]

Notes:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

x – less than 0.005% of the popular vote

Results by riding

See also

• List of Alberta political parties

References

Further reading

• Alberta. Chief Electoral Officer (1997). Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, November, 1996 general enumeration and Tuesday, March 11, 1997 general election Twenty-fourth Legislative Assembly. Edmonton: Alberta Legislative Assembly, Office of the Chief Electoral Officer.

External links

• Original Elections Alberta Website for 1997 election
• Present Elections Alberta Website for 1997 election