1988 Nova Scotia general election

The 1988 Nova Scotia general election was held on September 6, 1988 to elect members of the 55th House of Assembly of the Province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative party.

1988 Nova Scotia general election

September 6, 1988
52 seats of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly 27 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   PC Lib File:Alexa McDonough cropped.jpg Leader John Buchanan Vince MacLean Alexa McDonough Party Progressive Conservative Liberal New Democratic Leader since March 6, 1971 February 22, 1986 November 16, 1980 Leader's seat Halifax Atlantic Cape Breton South Halifax Chebucto Last election 42 6 3 Seats won 28 21 2 Seat change 14 15 1 Popular vote 204,150 186,007 74,038 Percentage 43.4% 39.6% 15.8% Swing 7.2% 8.3% Steady0.0
Premier before election John Buchanan Progressive Conservative Premier after election John Buchanan Progressive Conservative

John Dunsworth, who would later gain fame for playing alcoholic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on the TV series Trailer Park Boys, stood as the NDP candidate in Halifax Bedford Basin. He finished in third place with a little over 19% of the vote. His underdog campaign was later the subject of a short documentary.

Results by party

	Party	Leader	1984	Seats won	% change	Popular vote	(%)
	Progressive Conservative	John Buchanan	42	28	-33.3%	204,150	43.4%
	Liberal	Vince MacLean	6	21	+250%	186,007	39.6%
	New Democratic	Alexa McDonough	3	2	-33.3%	74,038	15.8%
	Other		1	1		5,638	1.2%
Total Seats			52	52		469,833	100%

* Vote share included in "other"

Popular vote
PC			43.45%
Liberal			39.59%
New Democratic			15.76%
Others			1.20%

Seats summary
PC			53.85%
Liberal			40.38%
New Democratic			3.85%
Others			1.92%