and also did better than ever before (or in some cases, since) in many other cities and rural areas. Due to the nature of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which ignores the popular vote and only awards power based on the number of ridings won, this decimated the Liberal caucus. The Liberals lost 59 seats, the worst defeat in their history and the second-worst defeat for a governing party in Ontario. The NDP even managed to unseat Peterson in his own riding. Premier On October 1, 1990, Rae was sworn in as the first, and to date the only, NDP Premier of Ontario. He also took the Intergovernmental Affairs portfolio, giving himself a direct voice in future constitutional negotiations. Bob Rae was in power for 1650 days, the longest term unique to an Ontario premier since the Second World War. He became one of the few Ontario premiers who could speak French. He was very popular for his first six months as Premier, with a poll from March 1991 showing the NDP at 52% support. The federal NDP also received 56% support in Ontario in a January 1991 poll. The government was unable to sustain its popularity, however, and by late 1992 had fallen to third place in public opinion polls. The party's popularity continued to ebb throughout 1993, followed by only a modest recovery in the next two years. This, among other factors, partially contributed to a significant decline in support for the federal NDP. There are many reasons for the Rae government's loss of popularity between 1991 and 1993. The NDP had never governed Ontario before, and Ontario was experiencing its worst recession since the Great Depression. The government backtracked on several campaign promises, most notably the introduction of public auto insurance, which caused disagreements among the party and supporters, especially from members of the progressive wing of the party such as cabinet ministers Howard Hampton and Shelley Martel. A number of scandals in cabinet and caucus due to the large number of rookie MPPs also cut into the government's popularity. In the 1993 federal election, the NDP fell to a historic low of 6% support in Ontario. All 10 New Democrat MPs from Ontario lost their seats to Liberal challengers as the Liberals won all but one seat in the province. Besides many NDP supporters nationwide voting Liberal to ensure that the Conservatives would be defeated (to avoid