N.B. Liberals will form majority government; Holt to become province's first female premier

N.B. electing Holt broke the 'glass ceiling' Professor Jamie Gillies called the election in New Brunswick a 'historic night' for the province after electing its first female premier.

The New Brunswick Liberals will form a majority government in the province, returning to power for the first time since 2018.

Hundreds of thousands of New Brunswickers headed to the polls Monday to vote in the province’s 61^st election.

New Liberal Leader Susan Holt brought the party to victory after the exodus of former head Kevin Vickers following the 2020 election’s disappointing showing for the Liberals.

Liberal Leader Susan Holt delivers a speech after her party won a majority in the New Brunswick election on Oct. 21, 2024. (Suzette Belliveau/CTV Atlantic)

New Brunswick's first female premier

Holt will become the first female premier of New Brunswick. A total of 17 women were elected Monday.

"I want to thank every voter, every person who came out," said Holt during a speech in Fredericton Monday night.

"We don't take it lightly that you've put your trust in our team. It's going to be on us to deliver."

The Liberals came into this election with 16 seats in the legislature, resting at a firm second-place behind the 25-seat Progressive Conservatives. With a majority win, they find themselves in their strongest position since Brian Gallant’s 27-seat election win in 2014.

They gained 15 seats in this election and now hold 30 seats in the legislature.

Doug Tyler, a former Liberal MLA, complimented Holt for the success of her campaign.

“This was a change election,” he said. “They found that change in Susan Holt. She ran a tremendous campaign.”

Holt, who served as the senior economic development advisor under the Gallant government, won the Liberal leadership race in 2022 and was elected to the legislature in 2023.

Across the 33-day election campaign, Holt focused on numerous health-care promises, including community care clinics, expanded midwifery services and in vitro fertilization funding.

She also promised to reverse the Progressive Conservatives’ changes to Policy 713, allowing teachers to use the preferred first names and pronouns of students without first asking parents for permission.

“We have to get straight to delivering on the issues that matter to New Brunswickers and the first step is making life more affordable,” Holt told Battis during an interview Monday night.

“We’ve committed to taking the tax off their power bill, to putting a rent cap in place, to taking the tax off of the price of gas. Those are things we can do quickly so we’re going to move on Day 1 to deliver that relief for so many New Brunswickers who are finding it hard to make ends meet.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Holt on the victory Monday night.

"I look forward to working with Premier-designate Holt to deliver on the priorities of Canadians," Trudeau said. "Together, we will build a more prosperous province and a better future for people in New Brunswick, the Atlantic, and across Canada.

"I thank outgoing Premier Higgs for his service to New Brunswick and to Canada over the last six years. I wish him the best in his future endeavours."

PC Leader Blaine Higgs delivers a concession speech in Quispamsis, N.B., on Oct. 21, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Darren Calabrese)

Higgs loses seat, concedes to Holt

The Liberals’ majority government win leaves the PCs on the outside looking in at power in the province for the first time in six years. It represents a stark downturn for PC Leader Blaine Higgs, who brought the party to majority status in 2020, and who was seeking a third term as premier.

He announced he conceded the race to Holt around 9:15 p.m.

Higgs, who had been an MLA since 2010, also lost his seat Monday in his riding of Quispamsis.

"It's certainly not the night we hoped for," Higgs said, encouraging members to rebuild the PC Party. "The people of New Brunswick have spoken. I know it's a tough loss."

One of the PC Party’s key promises during the campaign was to lower the Harmonized Sales Tax from 15 per cent to 13 per cent.

Higgs had also promised his government would not approve any additional supervised drug injection sites and would instead focus on rehabilitation.

The PCs held 25 seats at dissolution. They lost 14 seats in Monday’s election and now hold 16.

Green Leader David Coon gives a speech at Dolan's Pub in Fredericton on Oct. 21, 2024. (Alana Pickrell/CTV Atlantic)

Coon wins Fredericton-Lincoln

Green Leader David Coon was elected in his riding of Fredericton-Lincoln.

“I want to start out by thanking the voters of the new riding of Fredericton Lincoln for putting their trust in me to carry their voice into the legislative assembly of New Brunswick,” said Coon during his speech at Dolan’s Pub in Fredericton Monday night.

Coon has been leading the Green Party since 2012. He was the first Green Party member elected to the New Brunswick legislature in 2014.

The Greens held three seats heading into this election. They lost one seat in Monday’s election so they will hold two seats moving forward.

“It’s heartbreaking I know when you pour yourself and blood, sweat and tears into winning that seat, but it wasn’t to be this election,” said Coon.

“We’re continuing to build. One thing’s for sure: we know that Blaine Higgs is no longer the premier of this province.”

Coon says he called Holt to congratulate her on winning a majority government, but noted her party has a lot of promises to fulfil.

“There’s a lot of expectations across this province in terms of what government’s going to deliver for them given all of the problems and challenges we face here in our beautiful province,” said Coon.

“And as one of the opposition parties … we have an awesome responsibility to push them to be bold, to push them to make the investments necessary to actually fix the health-care system, to push them to serve New Brunswickers in the way they need to be served.”

The Greens largely focused on health care, the high cost of living, and lack of affordable housing during their campaign.

Images of the provincial election day in New Brunswick can be found here.

For more New Brunswick election news, visit our dedicated page.