Surprising has been one of the words used to describe Monday’s provincial election, which saw New Brunswick’s first minority government is nearly 100 years.
The People’s Alliance and the Greens won three seats each and potentially hold the balance of power in the legislature.
JP Lewis, an associate professor of political science at UNB Saint John, told our newsroom there was some surprise to see them win so many seats.
“In 2014, the People’s Alliance had only finished second in one riding,” Lewis said. “Now, winning three seats and finishing second in a handful of others, was quite a jump.”
The Greens were also not close in many ridings in 2014, he said, even though their popular vote had increased compared to 2010.
But Lewis said what should not be surprising is the fact people are leaning away from the Tories and Liberals, noting their combined popular vote fell by nearly 10 percentage points compared to the 2014 election.
He said minority governments typically do not last the full four years but we will have to wait and see what happens here.
