Manitoba general election, 1981

Manitoba general election, 1981

← 1977 November 17, 1981 1986 →
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 29 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Howard Pawley Sterling Lyon Doug Lauchlan Party New Democratic Progressive Conservative Liberal Leader since November 4, 1979 December 6, 1975 November 30, 1980 Leader's seat Selkirk Charleswood Ran in Wolseley (lost) Last election 23 33 1 Seats won 34 23 0 Seat change 11 10 1 Popular vote 228,784 211,602 32,373 Percentage 47.38% 43.82% 6.70% Swing 8.76pp 4.93pp 5.59pp
Map of Election Results
Premier before election Sterling Lyon Progressive Conservative Premier-designate Howard Pawley New Democratic

Sterling Lyon
Progressive Conservative

Howard Pawley
New Democratic

The Manitoba general election of November 17, 1981 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the opposition New Democratic Party, which took 34 of 57 seats. The governing Progressive Conservative Party took the remaining 23, while the Manitoba Liberal Party was shut out from the legislature for the only time in its history. The newly formed Progressive Party failed to win any seats.

Sterling Lyon's Progressive Conservative government ran on a promise to continue investing in the province's "mega-projects" (including as a $500 million Alcan aluminum smelter, a $600 million potash mine and a "Western power grid"), and suggested that an NDP government would jeopardize these plans. The NDP campaign, which was largely co-ordinated by Wilson Parasiuk, questioned the Lyon government's fiscal accountability in such matters, noting that it had sold 50% of Trout Lake Copper Mine stock, possibly at a major loss. Jacques Bougie, the Alcan administrator for Manitoba, was also described as holding undue influence over the government.

The NDP campaign generally focused on the economy, and drew attention to the issue of Manitobans emigrating from the province because of job losses. Progressive Party leader Sidney Green described Lyon's initiaves as "bega-projects", a reference to the government's controversial fundraising with foreign corporations.

The election was considered too close to call until the final week, when the NDP campaign gained momentum.