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1980 Canadian federal election

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1980 Canadian federal election

The 1980 Canadian federal election was held on February 18, 1980, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 32nd Parliament of Canada. It was called when the budget of the minority Progressive Conservative government led by Prime Minister Joe Clark was defeated in the Commons. As of 2025, it remains the most recent election triggered by the defeat of a government budget in the Commons. The Liberal Party under former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau won a narrow majority, returning Trudeau to the Premiership for a fourth and ultimately final term. This is the most recent election – and the first since 1935 – in which a sitting government was defeated at the polls after only one elected term. This is also the most recent election in which the Liberals won more seats in Quebec than in the rest of Canada – since this election, no party has ever bested the Liberals' 74-seat showing in Quebec.

Infobox

Turnout
69.3% ( 6.4 pp)
Leader
Ed Broadbent
Party
New Democratic
Leader since
July 7, 1975
Leader's seat
Oshawa
Last election
26 seats, 17.88%
Seats before
27
Seats won
32
Seat change
5
Popular vote
2,165,087
Percentage
19.77%
Swing
1.89 pp

Tables

Evolution of voting intentions at national level · Opinion polling
Election 1980
Election 1980
Polling firm
Election 1980
Last day of survey
February 18, 1980
LPC
44.34
PC
32.45
NDP
19.77
SC
1.70
Other
1.74
Gallup
Gallup
Polling firm
Gallup
Last day of survey
February 1980
LPC
48
PC
28
NDP
23
SC
—
Other
—
ME
—
Sample
—
CTV
CTV
Polling firm
CTV
Last day of survey
February 15, 1980
LPC
43
PC
33
NDP
22
SC
—
Other
—
ME
—
Sample
2,000
CTV
CTV
Polling firm
CTV
Last day of survey
February 1, 1980
LPC
46
PC
33
NDP
17
SC
—
Other
4
ME
—
Sample
2,039
Gallup
Gallup
Polling firm
Gallup
Last day of survey
January 1980
LPC
49
PC
28
NDP
20
SC
—
Other
—
ME
—
Sample
—
Gallup
Gallup
Polling firm
Gallup
Last day of survey
September 1979
LPC
41
PC
37
NDP
19
SC
—
Other
3
ME
4.0
Sample
—
Gallup
Gallup
Polling firm
Gallup
Last day of survey
July 1979
LPC
43
PC
38
NDP
20
SC
—
Other
3
ME
4.0
Sample
—
Gallup
Gallup
Polling firm
Gallup
Last day of survey
June 1979
LPC
40
PC
38
NDP
18
SC
—
Other
—
ME
—
Sample
—
Election 1979
Election 1979
Polling firm
Election 1979
Last day of survey
May 22, 1979
LPC
40.11
PC
35.89
NDP
17.88
SC
4.61
Other
1.51
Polling firm
Last day of survey
Source
LPC
PC
NDP
SC
Other
ME
Sample
Election 1980
February 18, 1980
44.34
32.45
19.77
1.70
1.74
Gallup
February 1980
48
28
23
—
—
—
—
CTV
February 15, 1980
43
33
22
—
—
—
2,000
CTV
February 1, 1980
46
33
17
—
4
—
2,039
Gallup
January 1980
49
28
20
—
—
—
—
Gallup
September 1979
41
37
19
—
3
4.0
—
Gallup
July 1979
43
38
20
—
3
4.0
—
Gallup
June 1979
40
38
18
—
—
—
—
Election 1979
May 22, 1979
40.11
35.89
17.88
4.61
1.51
Evolution of voting intentions at national level · Opinion polling › Quebec
Election 1980
Election 1980
Polling firm
Election 1980
Last day of survey
February 18, 1980
LPC
68.2
PC
12.6
NDP
9.1
SC
5.9
Other
4.2
QIPO
QIPO
Polling firm
QIPO
Last day of survey
December 22, 1979
LPC
74
PC
11
NDP
11
SC
4
Other
—
ME
4
Sample
699
Election 1979
Election 1979
Polling firm
Election 1979
Last day of survey
May 22, 1979
LPC
61.7
PC
13.5
NDP
5.1
SC
16.0
Other
3.7
Polling firm
Last day of survey
Source
LPC
PC
NDP
SC
Other
ME
Sample
Election 1980
February 18, 1980
68.2
12.6
9.1
5.9
4.2
QIPO
December 22, 1979
74
11
11
4
—
4
699
Election 1979
May 22, 1979
61.7
13.5
5.1
16.0
3.7
· National results
Party
Party
Col 1
Party
Col 2
Party leader
Col 3
# ofcandidates
Col 4
Seats
Col 5
Popular vote
1979
1979
Col 1
1979
Col 2
Dissolution
Col 3
Elected
Col 4
% Change
Col 5
#
Col 6
%
Col 7
Change
Total
Total
Col 1
Total
Col 2
1,497
Col 3
282
Col 4
282
Col 5
282
Col 6
-
Col 7
10,949,536
Col 8
100%
Sources: Elections Canada, History of Federal Ridings since 1867
Sources: Elections Canada, History of Federal Ridings since 1867
Col 1
Sources: Elections Canada, History of Federal Ridings since 1867
Party
Party leader
# ofcandidates
Seats
Popular vote
1979
Dissolution
Elected
% Change
#
%
Change
Liberal
Pierre Trudeau
282
114
114
147
+28.9%
4,855,425
44.34%
+4.23pp
Progressive Conservative
Joe Clark
282
136
136
103
-24.3%
3,552,994
32.45%
-3.44pp
New Democratic Party
Ed Broadbent
280
26
27
32
+23.1%
2,165,087
19.77%
+1.89pp
Social Credit
Fabien Roy
81
6
5
-
-100%
185,486
1.70%
-2.91pp
Rhinoceros
Cornelius I
121
-
-
-
110,597
1.01%
+0.46pp
Marxist–Leninist
Hardial Bains
177
-
-
-
-
14,728
0.13%
+0.01pp
Libertarian
58
-
-
-
-
14,656
0.13%
-0.01pp
Union populaire
54
-
-
-
-
14,474
0.13%
-0.04pp
Independent
55
-
-
-
-
14,472
0.13%
-0.13pp
Unknown
41
-
-
-
-
12,532
0.11%
-0.07pp
Communist
William Kashtan
52
-
-
-
-
6,022
0.05%
-0.02pp
No affiliation
14
-
-
-
-
3,063
0.03%
+0.03pp
Total
1,497
282
282
282
-
10,949,536
100%
Sources: Elections Canada, History of Federal Ridings since 1867
· Results by province and territory
Total seats:
Total seats:
Party name
Total seats:
Party name
28
Party name
21
BC
14
AB
14
SK
95
MB
75
ON
10
QC
11
NB
4
NS
7
PE
2
NL
1
NT
282
Parties that won no seats:
Parties that won no seats:
Party name
Parties that won no seats:
Party name
BC
AB
SK
MB
ON
QC
NB
NS
PE
NL
NT
YK
Total
Liberal
Seats:
-
-
-
2
52
74
7
5
2
5
-
-
147
Popular Vote:
22.2
22.2
24.3
28.0
41.9
68.2
50.1
39.9
46.8
47.0
35.8
39.6
44.3
Progressive Conservative
Seats:
16
21
7
5
38
1
3
6
2
2
1
1
103
Vote:
41.5
64.9
38.9
37.7
35.5
12.6
32.5
38.7
46.3
36.0
24.7
40.6
32.4
New Democratic Party
Seats:
12
-
7
7
5
-
-
-
-
-
1
-
32
Vote:
35.3
10.3
36.3
33.5
21.8
9.1
16.2
20.9
6.6
16.7
38.4
19.8
19.8
Total seats:
28
21
14
14
95
75
10
11
4
7
2
1
282
Parties that won no seats:
Social Credit
Vote:
0.1
1.0
xx
xx
5.9
1.7
Rhinoceros
Vote:
0.4
0.7
0.1
0.4
0.2
3.0
0.5
0.2
1.1
1.0
Marxist–Leninist
Vote:
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.2
xx
xx
xx
0.1
0.1
Libertarian
Vote:
xx
0.3
0.1
xx
0.1
Union populaire
Vote:
0.5
0.1
Independent
Vote:
0.3
0.3
0.1
xx
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.4
0.3
0.1
0.1
Non-Affiliated
Vote:
xx
0.5
0.2
0.1
xx
0.2
0.3
0.1
0.1
Communist
Vote:
0.1
0.1
xx
0.1
0.1
xx
0.1
No affiliation
Vote:
xx
0.1
0.1
xx

References

  1. In Frontenac, the election was postponed to March 24 following the death of Social Credit candidate Nelson Lassard.
  2. After being defeated in Beauce, Roy was a candidate in the delayed election in Frontenac, which was postponed to March 2
  3. Elections Canada
    https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&dir=turn&document=index&lang=e
  4. CBC News
    https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jerusalem-embassy-tel-aviv-clark-1.4436795
  5. Canadian Parliamentary Historical Resources
    http://parl.canadiana.ca/view/oop.HOC_3101_125_01/334?r=0&s=1
  6. Regina Leader-Post
    https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=w9EjUEod0xMC&dat=19791214&printsec=frontpage&hl=fr
  7. The Globe and Mail
  8. The Citizen
  9. The Globe and Mail
  10. The Citizen
  11. The Citizen
  12. The Montreal Gazette
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