The 1991 New Brunswick general election was held on September 23, 1991, to elect 58 members to the 52nd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada.

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Quick Facts 58 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 30 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

1991 New Brunswick general election

← 1987 September 23, 1991 1995 →
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58 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 30 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   CoR Leader Frank McKenna Arch Pafford Party Liberal Confederation of Regions Leader since 1985 1989 Leader's seat Chatham Ran in Miramichi-Newcastle (lost) Last election 58 seats, 60.39% New party Seats won 46 8 Seat change 12 8 Popular vote 193,890 87,256 Percentage 47.11% 21.18% Swing 13.28pp New party   Third party Fourth party   PC NDP Leader Dennis Cochrane Elizabeth Weir Party Progressive Conservative New Democratic Leader since 1990 1988 Leader's seat Petitcodiac Saint John South Last election 0 seats, 28.59% 0 seats, 10.55% Seats won 3 1 Seat change 3 1 Popular vote 85,210 44,384 Percentage 20.69% 10.78% Swing 7.89pp 0.23pp
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding.
Premier before election Frank McKenna Liberal Premier after election Frank McKenna Liberal

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As expected, the Liberal Party won a large majority. Many were surprised that the Confederation of Regions Party formed the official opposition.^[1] Though they ran even with the PCs in popular vote, their concentration of support in rural anglophone ridings gave them considerably more seats. Weir's personal popularity and name recognition was not enough to give her party more seats as she, and the Tories, had votes relatively evenly spread around the province.

Though Frank McKenna's Liberals were expected to win a second term after sweeping all 58 seats in 1987, any of the other three parties were considered contenders for official opposition.

The New Democratic Party was led by Elizabeth Weir, who had been the strongest and most consistent voice of opposition to the Liberals since her election as party leader in 1988. In the ensuing three years, thanks to the lack of opposition members in the legislature (MLAs), her firebrand style had made her a well-known name in New Brunswick politics.

The fledgling Confederation of Regions Party had been created out of the ashes of the Hatfield Tories when the latter went from majority government to zero seats in 1987. CoR was running numerous former Tory MLAs and candidates, and even some former Tory cabinet ministers. Its base of support was in English-speaking regions of New Brunswick, where many conservatives had become alienated by Hatfield's close relationship with Acadians.

The Progressive Conservatives had been in power for the majority of years since confederation, and 17 straight years before 1987. Even so, the scandals of the final Hatfield years and the growing unpopularity of the federal Progressive Conservatives hindered their success. Additionally they had perceived internal problems having gone through four leaders since the last election: Hatfield, then two-year interim leader Malcolm MacLeod then Barbara Baird, and then Dennis Cochrane.

A number of races were close 2 or 3 way contests with only a small fraction of votes separating the winner from the losers. The tables below highlight the seats that the three major parties missed by less than 10 percentage points (pp) and the margins between them and the winner.