In the election, Lougheed and the Tories swept the Socreds from power, ending one of the longest unbroken runs in government at the provincial level in Canada. While the PCs finished only five percentage points ahead of the Socreds, 46 percent to 41 percent, they reaped a major windfall in the cities. They took every seat in Edmonton, and all but five in Calgary. The nature of the first past the post system, which awards power solely on the basis of seats won, gave Lougheed a strong majority government, with 49 seats to the Socreds' 25 and the NDP's one. As it turned out, this would be the most opposition Lougheed would face during his 14 years in office.