The 2018 Provincial Election in Quebec

Abstract

The 2018 election in Quebec marked an important turn in the province’s political history with the victory of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ)—the first time since 1966 that a party other than the Quebec Liberal Party (QLP) or the Parti Québécois (PQ) formed a government. The incumbent QLP suffered from voter fatigue and a backlash against its austerity measures while the PQ had been struggling for several years due to the declining popularity of its sovereignty option, especially among younger generations of voters. The CAQ had been leading in the polls for over a year, although the campaign proved to be more competitive than expected in its second half. The battle for third place was hard fought between the PQ and the insurgent Québec Solidaire (QS). The election’s outcome, and the CAQ government’s success, suggest that the new party system configuration that came into place in 2018 may be a lasting one.