The 1995 New Brunswick general election was held on September 11, 1995, to elect 55 members to the 53rd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada.

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Quick Facts 55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 28 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

1995 New Brunswick general election

← 1991 September 11, 1995 1999 →
← outgoing members members →
55 seats of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 28 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   PC Leader Frank McKenna Bernard Valcourt Party Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since 1985 1995 Leader's seat Miramichi-Bay du Vin Edmundston Last election 46 3 Seats won 48 6 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 201,150 120,247 Percentage 51.63% 30.87% Swing 4.52% 10.17%   Third party Fourth party   NDP CoR Leader Elizabeth Weir Greg Hargrove Party New Democratic Confederation of Regions Leader since 1988 1995 Leader's seat Saint John Harbour Mactaquac (lost re-election) Last election 1 8 Seats won 1 0 Seat change 8 Popular vote 37,579 27,684 Percentage 9.65% 7.11% Swing 1.13% 14.09%
Map of New Brunswick's ridings coloured in based on the winning parties and their popular vote
Premier before election Frank McKenna Liberal Premier after election Frank McKenna Liberal

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The Liberals were again victorious. McKenna's personal popularity allowed the Liberals to maintain a large majority while the Tories managed only 6 seats, while the CoR lost all theirs. The combined PC-CoR vote exceeded that of the Liberals in an additional 10 ridings (Albert, Fundy Isles, Kings East, Mactaquac, Petitcodiac, Saint John-Fundy, Southwest Miramichi, Victoria-Tobique, Western Charlotte and Woodstock).

Also of note, there were 55 ridings in this election, as opposed to 58 in previous elections. It was the first time boundaries were redrawn in New Brunswick since 1974.

Valcourt, a popular politician from Edmundston, had served as an MP from 1984 to 1993, and served in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell. The New Brunswick Tories had been in shambles for the better part of a decade. They were shut out of the legislature in 1987, and won only three seats and third place in 1991. The internal meltdown of the CoR party had left them much room on the right, and polls showed that there would be a competitive race.

The election marked the debut of Bernard Valcourt as a provincial politician, and as leader of a reinvigorated Progressive Conservative Party. Frank McKenna sought a third term for his Liberal government, while the Confederation of Regions (CoR) party struggled to survive after considerable internal strife. Elizabeth Weir tried to expand her New Democratic Party's foothold in the legislature.

* Natural Law did not contest the 1991 election.

Many new and changed districts were used for the first time in this election as a result of an electoral redistribution.

Legend

• bold denotes a party leader
• italics denotes a potential candidate who has not received his/her party's nomination
• † denotes an incumbent who is not running for re-election
• * denotes an incumbent seeking re-election in a new district