The 1996 Prince Edward Island general election was held on November 18, 1996. It was the first election in the province's history to not use multi-member constituencies, and instead elect a single member in each of 27 districts. (Previously, since 1873 the province had been divided into 15 or 16 districts, each electing two members.) The governing Liberals of Premier Keith Milligan, who had been in power since Joe Ghiz first won government in 1986, lost to the resurgent Progressive Conservatives under their new leader, Pat Binns. This was also the first election where a party other than the Liberals or Tories won a seat in the Legislature, with New Democratic Party leader Herb Dickieson winning a three-way race in a Prince County riding. This election was the only one in PEI history where a party formed government without winning a majority of the vote until the 2015 election.

Party standings

Members elected

1,287 1,159 54 1st Kings 1,347 1,269 40 2nd Kings 1,463 1,182 43 3rd Kings 5th Kings 1,259 964 71 1,309 1,022 112 4th Kings 1,275 1,242 99 4th Queens 2,357 914 146 3rd Queens 1,511 1,279 90 1,625 1,404 165 1,585 1,212 207 5th Queens 1,584 1,008 169 1,075 1,345 363 1,242 1,348 226 6th Queens 1,481 1,119 862 1,751 1,575 190 1,606 1,958 224 2nd Queens 1,666 1,529 312 1st Queens 1,824 1,652 187 1,521 1,310 195 4th Prince 2,020 1,312 227 1,506 1,394 492 5th Prince 1,145 1,716 307 715 1,823 162 2nd Prince 735 1,519 188 3rd Prince 695 783 921 1,127 1,351 175 1st Prince 1,149 1,413 56

Sources