1981 Ontario general election

1981 Ontario general election

← 1977 March 19, 1981 1985 →
125 seats in the 32nd Legislative Assembly of Ontario 63 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   LIB Leader Bill Davis Stuart Smith Party Progressive Conservative Liberal Leader since February 12, 1971 January 25, 1976 Leader's seat Brampton Hamilton West Last election 58 33 Seats won 70 33 Seat change 12 0 Popular vote 1,412,488 1,065,569 Percentage 44.38% 33.48% Swing 4.80pp 2.29pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Michael Cassidy Party New Democratic Liberal–Labour Leader since February 5, 1978 Leader's seat Ottawa Centre Last election 33 1 Seats won 21 1 Seat change 12 0 Popular vote 672,824 7,111 Percentage 21.14% 0.22% Swing 7.02pp 0.03
Seating in chamber after the election
Premier before election Bill Davis Progressive Conservative Premier after election Bill Davis Progressive Conservative

The 1981 Ontario general election was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.

The governing Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, led by Bill Davis, was re-elected for a twelfth consecutive term in office. The PCs finally won a majority government after winning only minorities in the 1975 and 1977 elections. The Liberal Party, led by Stuart Smith, was able to maintain its standing in the Legislature, while the New Democratic Party, led by Michael Cassidy, lost a significant number of seats, allowing the Tories to win a majority.