Manitoba general election, 1988

Manitoba general election, 1988

← 1986 April 26, 1988 1990 →
57 seats of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 29 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   PC LIB Leader Gary Filmon Sharon Carstairs Gary Doer Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since December 10, 1983 March 4, 1984 March 30, 1988 Leader's seat Tuxedo River Heights Concordia Last election 26 1 30 Seats won 25 20 12 Seat change 1 19 18 Popular vote 206,180 190,913 126,954 Percentage 38.37% 35.52% 23.62% Swing 2.19 21.60% 17.88%
Map of Election Results
Premier before election Howard Pawley New Democratic Premier-designate Gary Filmon Progressive Conservative

Howard Pawley
New Democratic

Gary Filmon
Progressive Conservative

The Manitoba general election of April 26, 1988 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It resulted in a minority government. The Progressive Conservative Party won 25 seats, against 20 for the Liberal Party and 12 for the New Democratic Party.

The election was called unexpectedly in early 1988, after disgruntled NDP backbencher Jim Walding voted against his government's budget on March 9, 1988. Walding's defection in an almost evenly divided house resulted in Howard Pawley's NDP government being defeated, 28 votes to 27. As the budget vote was a confidence measure, the Pawley ministry was forced to resign and call new elections two years ahead of schedule.

Popular support for the NDP was at an historically low level when the election was called, due to soaring Autopac rates and a taxpayer-funded bailout of the Manitoba Telephone System. The Pawley government's support for the Meech Lake Accord was also unpopular in some circles. One internal poll had the party at only 6% support, and there were concerns that they could be reduced to only two or three seats in the 57-seat legislature. Pawley resigned as party leader on the day after the budget defeat, and Urban Affairs Minister Gary Doer narrowly defeated Agriculture Minister Leonard Harapiak to replace him at a party convention held during the campaign.

Even after Doer's selection, the consensus was that the NDP would not be reelected. However, they managed to stabilize at around 20% in the polls. Many traditional NDP voters, especially in the city of Winnipeg, abandoned the party to support the Liberals in this cycle.