Ontario general election, 1987

Ontario general election, 1987

← 1985 September 10, 1987 1990 →
130 seats in the 34th Legislative Assembly of Ontario 66 seats were needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   PC Leader David Peterson Bob Rae Larry Grossman Party Liberal New Democratic Progressive Conservative Leader since February 21, 1982 February 7, 1982 November 16, 1985 Leader's seat London Centre York South St. Andrew—St. Patrick (lost re-election) Last election 48 25 52 Seats won 95 19 16 Seat change 47 6 36 Popular vote 1,788,214 970,813 931,476 Percentage 47.3% 25.7% 24.7% Swing 9.4pp 1.9pp 12.3pp
Map of the 1987 election, showing the ridings and their popular vote
Premier before election David Peterson Liberal Premier-designate David Peterson Liberal

David Peterson
Liberal

David Peterson
Liberal

The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with their first majority government in half a century, and the second-largest majority government in the province's history. Peterson had successfully managed to govern with a minority in the Legislature by obtaining the co-operation of the Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae. It was through the NDP's support that Peterson was able to form a government, even though the Progressive Conservative Party had won a slightly larger number of seats in the previous election.

The PC Party, led by Larry Grossman, campaigned on a platform of tax cuts to stimulate the economy. Its support continued to slide, however, as voters opted for the change that the Liberal-NDP arrangement provided, with even Grossman losing his own seat. The NDP was unable to convince voters that it should be given credit for the success of the Liberal government that it had supported. Despite losing six seats, the party became the Official Opposition for the second time in the party's history. The PCs fell to 16 seats and third place in the legislature, their worst showing in an election in half a century.

Dalton McGuinty, Sr., MPP for Ottawa South, died on March 16, 1990. No byelection was held; the seat was vacant until the 1990 election in September.