1998 Quebec general election

Quebec general election, 1998

November 30, 1998
125 seats in the 36th National Assembly of Quebec 63 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	78.32%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Lucien Bouchard Jean Charest Mario Dumont Party Parti Québécois Liberal Action démocratique Leader since January 27, 1996 April 30, 1998 1994 Leader's seat Jonquière Sherbrooke Rivière-du-Loup Last election 77 seats, 44.75% 47 seats, 44.40% 1 seat, 6.46% Seats won 76 48 1 Seat change -1 +1 0 Popular vote 1,744,240 1,771,858 480,636 Percentage 42.87% 43.55% 11.81% Swing -1.88% -0.85% +5.35%
Map of Quebec's ridings coloured in to indicate ridings won by each party and their popular vote. PQ (cyan): 76 seats; Liberal (red): 48 seats; ADQ (blue): 1 seat.
Premier before election Lucien Bouchard Parti Québécois Premier-designate Lucien Bouchard Parti Québécois

The Quebec general election of 1998 was held on November 30, 1998, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Lucien Bouchard, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Charest.

After the narrow defeat of the PQ's proposal for political independence for Quebec in an economic union with the rest of Canada in the 1995 Quebec referendum, PQ leader Jacques Parizeau resigned. Bouchard left federal politics, where he was leader of the Bloc Québécois in the Canadian House of Commons, to lead the Parti Québécois and become premier.

Jean Charest had also left federal politics, where he had been leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Charest was initially seen as a bad fit for the Quebec Liberal Party, and for provincial politics. He later overcame this perception.

In terms of the number of seats won by each of the two parties, the result was almost identical to the previous 1994 general election. However, this time the Liberals actually won a slightly larger percentage of the popular vote, but nonetheless far fewer seats.

Mario Dumont, leader of the Action démocratique du Québec, repeated his success in winning his own seat, as he had done in the 1994 general election. However, his party also repeated its failure to elect any other member apart from its leader.

Results

The overall results were:

Party		Party leader	Candi- dates	Seats			Popular vote
				1994	Elected	% Change	#	%	% Change
	Parti Québécois	Lucien Bouchard	124	77	76	-1.3%	1,744,240	42.87%	-1.88%
	Liberal	Jean Charest	125	47	48	+2.1%	1,771,858	43.55%	-0.85%
	Action démocratique	Mario Dumont	125	1	1	-	480,636	11.81%	+5.35%
	Socialist Democracy	Paul Rose	97	-	-	-	24,097	0.59%	-0.26%
	Equality	Keith Henderson	24	-	-	-	12,543	0.31%	+0.02%
	Bloc Pot	Marc-Boris St-Maurice	24	*	-	*	9,944	0.24%	*
	Natural Law	Allen Faguy	35	-	-	-	5,369	0.13%	-0.72%
	Marxist–Leninist		24	-	-	-	2,747	0.07%	+0.04%
	Innovator		20	-	-	-	2,484	0.06%	+0.01%
	Communist		20	-	-	-	2,113	0.05%	+0.02%
	Independent/No designation		39	-	-	-	12,441	0.31%	-1.38%
Total			657	125	125	-	4,068,472	100%
Source: Elections Quebec
Note: * Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Note:

* Party did not nominate candidates in the previous election.

Vote share
PLQ			43.55%
PQ			42.87%
ADQ			11.81%
Socialist Democracy			0.59%
Others			1.17%

Party		Seats	Second	Third	Fourth	Fifth	Sixth	Seventh	Eighth	Ninth	Tenth
	Parti Québécois	76	47	1
	Liberal	48	75	2
	Action démocratique	1	2	117	5
	Socialist Democracy				56	33	6	2
	Equality		1	3	12	1	4	2		1
	Bloc Pot			1	17	6
	Natural Law				7	14	10	3	1
	Marxist–Leninist				2	5	11	2	4
	Innovator				2	7	8	3
	Communist				2	3	4	6	3	2
	Independent			1	9	14	9	3	2		1

See also

• List of Quebec political parties
• List of Quebec premiers
• Politics of Quebec
• Timeline of Quebec history
• 36th National Assembly of Quebec

External links

• CBC TV video clip
• Results by party (total votes and seats won)
• Results for all ridings