New Brunswick general election, 1970

Results of the 1970 election

Rendition of party representation in the 47th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly decided by this election.

  Progressive Conservatives (32)

  Liberals (26)

The 27th New Brunswick general election was held on October 26, 1970, to elect 58 members to the 47th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It saw the Liberals defeated, and a new Conservative government take over in the Canadian Province of New Brunswick.

Louis Robichaud, the Liberal premier since 1960, called the election early by surprise. Some analysts believed Robichaud was tiring of the job of Premier, and that he had accomplished everything that he had set out to do, ending with the Official Languages Act in 1969. With no willing leadership candidates ready to take over at the time, Robichaud called an election.

He had hoped that the Progressive Conservatives, led by new leader Richard Hatfield, would not be ready for a snap election, but Hatfield released his platform two days before Robichaud did. In fact, the Liberals were forced to write their platform so rapidly they could not get it in by the publishing deadlines for the local newspapers in which they purchased advertising space, forcing them to run blank pages. This gaffe was the major turning point in the campaign.

Meanwhile, Hatfield grew increasingly confident. He campaigned across the province in a helicopter, and analysts were susprised at the ease in which he communicated in both official languages. Although the Liberals won the popular vote, the Conservatives won a majority of the seats in the provincial legislature.

This was also the first New Brunswick provincial election contested by the New Democratic Party, though they did not win any seats.

New Brunswick general election, 1970
Party	Leader	Seats	Pop Vote
Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick	Richard Hatfield	32	48.4%
New Brunswick Liberal Association	Louis Robichaud	26	48.6%
New Brunswick New Democratic Party	J. Albert Richardson	0	2.8%
Other / Non-Partisan		0	0.2%

References

• Frank B. Feigert (1989). Canada Votes, 1935-1988. Duke University Press. p. 160.