1963 Alberta general election

The 1963 Alberta general election was the fifteenth general election for the Province of Alberta, Canada. It was held on June 17, 1963, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta.

1963 Alberta general election

June 17, 1963 (1963-06-17)
63 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 32 seats were needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party Third party   LIB PC Leader Ernest Manning Dave Hunter Milt Harradence Party Social Credit Liberal Progressive Conservative Leader since May 31, 1943 January 14, 1962 1962 Leader's seat Strathcona East ran in Athabasca (lost) ran in Calgary-West (lost) Last election 61 seats, 55.7% 1 seat, 13.9% 1 seat, 23.9% Seats before 60 1 1 Seats won 60 2 0 Seat change ±0 1 1 Popular vote 221,107 79,709 51,278 Percentage 54.8% 19.8% 12.7% Swing 0.9% 5.9% 11.2%
Premier before election Ernest Manning Social Credit Premier after election Ernest Manning Social Credit

The Social Credit Party, led by Ernest C. Manning, won its eighth consecutive term in government, winning roughly the same number of seats in the legislature and share of popular vote that it had in the 1959 election.

Some Social Credit supporters were so confident of their party's chances that they talked of winning "63 in '63", i.e., all 63 seats in the legislature in the 1963 election. They fell short of this goal, but still had an overwhelming majority, reducing the opposition to only three MLAs in total. Indeed, as a share of the overall seats available, this represented Social Credit's greatest victory in its 36-year reign.

Much of the opposition vote shifted away from the Progressive Conservative Party, now led by Milt Harradence, resulting in the party losing its sole seat.

The Liberal Party was a partial beneficiary of the PC Party's decline, but picked up only one additional seat, for a total of two, despite winning almost 20% of the popular vote.

1963 was the last year in Alberta provincial politics when an MLA was acclaimed with the acclamation of Leonard Halmrast in Taber-Warner.

After the PCs won power, they would later speak of "79 in '79".