1987 Ontario general election

The 1987 Ontario general election was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

1987 Ontario general election

September 10, 1987
130 seats in the 34th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 66 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   PC Leader David Peterson Bob Rae Larry Grossman Party Liberal New Democratic Progressive Conservative Leader since February 21, 1982 February 7, 1982 November 16, 1985 Leader's seat London Centre York South St. Andrew—St. Patrick (lost re-election) Last election 48 25 52 Seats won 95 19 16 Seat change 47 6 36 Popular vote 1,788,214 970,813 931,476 Percentage 47.3% 25.7% 24.7% Swing 9.4pp 1.9pp 12.3pp
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. Click the map for more details.
Premier before election David Peterson Liberal Premier after election David Peterson Liberal

The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by Premier David Peterson, was returned to power with their first majority government in half a century, and the second-largest majority government in the province's history. Peterson had successfully managed to govern with a minority in the Legislature by obtaining the co-operation of the Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae, in a confidence and supply agreement. It was through the NDP's support that Peterson was able to form a government, even though the Progressive Conservative Party had won a slightly larger number of seats in the previous election.

The PC Party, led by Larry Grossman, campaigned on a platform of tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Its support continued to slide, as voters opted for the change that the Liberal-NDP arrangement provided, with Grossman losing his own seat. The PCs fell to 16 seats and third place in the legislature, their worst showing in an election in half a century.

The NDP was unable to convince the bulk of voters that it should be given credit for the success of the Liberal government that it had supported. It nevertheless did receive more votes and a larger proportion of the vote than in the previous election, although the party lost six seats due to the first-past-the-post electoral system. The party became the Official Opposition for the fourth time in its history.