1971 Saskatchewan general election

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1971 Saskatchewan general election
Flag of Saskatchewan.svg
  1967 June 23, 1971 (1971-06-23) 1975  

60 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan
31 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Allan-Blakeney-2009.jpeg Wilbert Ross Thatcher, 1953.jpg
Leader Allan Blakeney Ross Thatcher
Party New Democratic Liberal
Leader since July 4, 1970 September 24, 1959
Leader's seat Regina Centre Morse
Last election2435
Seats won4515
Seat changeIncrease2.svg21Decrease2.svg20
Popular vote248,978193,864
Percentage55.00%42.82%
SwingIncrease2.svg10.65pp Decrease2.svg2.75pp

Saskatchewan general election, 1971 results by riding.svg
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.

Premier before election

Ross Thatcher
Liberal

Premier after election

Allan Blakeney
New Democratic

The 1971 Saskatchewan general election was held on June 23, 1971, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.

Contents

Under the leadership of Allan Blakeney, the New Democratic Party of Saskatchewan returned to power after seven years in opposition. The NDP won a majority government, increasing its share of the popular vote by over 10 percentage points.

The Liberal government of Premier Ross Thatcher more or less held its share of the popular vote, but lost a significant number of seats in the legislature in part because of the continuing decline in the share of the vote won by the Progressive Conservative Party, now led by Ed Nasserden.

Ross Thatcher died on July 22, 1971, just shy of a month after losing the election.

Results

PartyParty Leader# of
candidates
SeatsPopular Vote
1967 Elected% Change#%% Change
  New Democratic Allan Blakeney 602445+87.5%248,97855.00%+10.65%
  Liberal Ross Thatcher 603515-42.9%193,86442.82%-2.75%
  Progressive Conservative Ed Nasserden 169,6592.13%-7.65%
 Independent1**1890.04%*
Communist 1**460.01%*
Total1385960+1.7%452,736100% 
Source: Elections Saskatchewan

Note:* Party did not nominate candidates in previous election.

Popular vote
New Democratic
55.00%
Liberal
42.82%
PC
2.13%
Others
0.05%
Seats summary
New Democratic
75.00%
Liberal
25.00%

See also

References