1975 Alberta general election
Open-knowledge reference entry
The 1975 Alberta general election was held on March 26, 1975, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta to the 18th Alberta Legislature. The election was called on February 14, 1975 prorogued and dissolved of the 17th Alberta Legislature.
The Progressive Conservative Party led by incumbent Premier Peter Lougheed won its second term in government in a landslide, taking over 62 per cent of the popular vote and winning 69 of the 75 seats in the legislature for a supermajority government.
After 36 years in government from 1935 to 1971—virtually its entire history—the Social Credit Party was unprepared for a role in opposition. It lost over half of its popular vote from the previous election, and was cut down to only four MLAs—just barely holding onto official party status. The only other opposition MLAs was Alberta New Democratic Party leader Grant Notley; independent Gordon Taylor supported the Tories.
Background
The 1971 general election resulted in the Progressive Conservative Party led by Peter Lougheed defeating the Social Credit Party which had governed Alberta continuously for 36 years consecutive years. The Progressive Conservatives defeated the Social Credit Party by 5.3 per cent in the popular vote and formed a majority government.
Social Credit leader and former Premier Harry Strom continued as leader of the opposition until 1973 when he resigned, Strom continued in the legislature until the 1975 election, when he did not seek re-election. In the 1973 leadership election, Werner Schmidt, vice-president of Lethbridge Community College, who didn't hold a seat in the Legislative Assembly, ran against former Highways Minister Gordon Taylor, former Education Minister Robert Curtis Clark, and John Ludwig, dean of business education at Alberta College.
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