New Brunswick general election, 1995

The 33rd 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. 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.

Contents

• Results
• Candidates
• Upper Saint John River Valley
• References

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 3 seats and third place in 1991. The internal meltdown of the CoR party had left them lots of room on the right, and polls showed that there would be a competitive race.

The Liberals, however, were again victorious. McKenna's personal popularity allowed the Liberals to maintain a large majority while the Tories managed only 6 seats. 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.