51 35 58 34 39.7% 31.5% Start date June 9, 1977 | 35 38 34 33 31.5% 28.0% | |
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Winner Bill Davis | ||
The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario (Members of Provincial Parliament, or "MPPs") of the Province of Ontario, Canada.
The Progressive Conservative Party, led by Premier Bill Davis, was re-elected for an eleventh consecutive term in office, again with a minority in the legislature. The PCs won an additional seven seats, but were not able to win a majority.
The Liberal Party, led by Dr. Stuart Smith, lost one seat compared to its result in the previous election, but formed the Official Opposition because the NDP lost more seats.
The New Democratic Party, led by Stephen Lewis, lost five seats, and therefore lost the position of "Official Opposition" to the Liberals.
Sheila Copps, future federal cabinet minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, made make her political debut in this election finishing second in the riding of Hamilton Centre.
This was the first election in which Jim Bradley, the longest-serving current MPP in Ontario, was elected.
Results
1 Includes T. Patrick Reid, a Liberal MPP who is re-elected in 1977 as a Liberal-Labour candidate (he had previously been elected as Liberal-Labour in 1967 but was re-elected in 1971 and 1975 as a straight Liberal).
A number of unregistered parties also contested this election. The North American Labour Party, consisting of Lyndon LaRouche supporters, ran three candidates in Toronto and three elsewhere in the province. The Revolutionary Marxist Group and League for Socialist Action fielded one candidate apiece; soon after the election, both groups merged into the Revolutionary Workers League.
Some members of the Social Credit Party also ran in the election, although it is not clear if they were formally endorsed by the party.