The 2012 Quebec general election took place in the Canadian province of Quebec on September 4, 2012. Lieutenant Governor Pierre Duchesne dissolved the National Assembly on August 1, 2012, following Premier Jean Charest's request. The Parti Québécois were elected to a minority government, with Pauline Marois becoming the first woman to be Premier of Quebec. The Quebec Liberal Party took second place, with Premier Jean Charest losing his seat. The newly formed party Coalition Avenir Québec led by François Legault took third place, while Québec solidaire took 2 seats out of the 125. It was the first time since 2007 (and only the third time in Quebec history) that a minority government would be formed, as no party won an absolute majority of the seats. Both the PQ and Liberal vote declined which boosted support for the CAQ and Quebec Solidaire. During Marois' victory speech, an attack including gunshots and a fire occurred at the Métropolis concert hall housing the event and a forty-year-old man died as a result of gunshot wounds.

Timeline

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Redistribution of ridings

The Commission de la représentation électorale performed a redistribution in 2011, which maintained the number of seats in the National Assembly at 125 for the next general election, making the following alterations:

Incumbent MNAs who did not run for re-election

Liberal Parti Québécois Coalition Avenir Québec Independent

Opinion polls

Results

! rowspan="2" colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Party ! rowspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Party leader ! rowspan="2" style="font-size:80%;" | Candidates ! colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" | Seats ! colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Popular vote Notes: Results change is compared to the Action démocratique du Québec in 2008.

Synopsis of results

Summary analysis

Footnotes