1998 Quebec general election

The 1998 Quebec general election was held on November 30, 1998, to elect members of the National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Premier Lucien Bouchard, won re-election, defeating the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Charest.

1998 Quebec general election

November 30, 1998
125 seats in the 36th Quebec Legislature 63 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	78.32% (3.26%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Lucien Bouchard Jean Charest Mario Dumont Party Parti Québécois Liberal Action démocratique Leader since January 27, 1996 April 30, 1998 May 11, 1994 Leader's seat Jonquière Sherbrooke (won seat) Rivière-du-Loup Last election 77 seats, 44.75% 47 seats, 44.40% 1 seat, 6.46% Seats won 76 48 1 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 1,744,240 1,771,858 480,636 Percentage 42.87% 43.55% 11.81% Swing 1.88% 0.85% 5.35%
Popular vote by riding. As this is an FPTP election, seat totals are not determined by popular vote, but instead via results by each riding. Click the map for more details.
Premier before election Lucien Bouchard Parti Québécois Premier after election Lucien Bouchard Parti Québécois

After the narrow defeat of the PQ's proposal for political independence for Quebec in an economic union with the rest of Canada in the 1995 Quebec referendum, PQ leader Jacques Parizeau resigned. In January 1996, Bouchard left federal politics, where he was leader of the Bloc Québécois in the House of Commons of Canada, to lead the Parti Québécois and become premier.

Jean Charest had also left federal politics, where he had been leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Charest was initially seen as a bad fit for the Quebec Liberal Party, and for provincial politics. He later overcame this perception.

In terms of the number of seats won by each of the two parties, the result was almost identical to the previous 1994 general election. However, this time the Liberals won a slightly larger percentage of the popular vote, but nonetheless far fewer seats.

Mario Dumont, leader of the Action démocratique du Québec, repeated his success in winning his own seat, as he had done in the 1994 general election. However, his party also repeated its failure to elect any other member apart from its leader.