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1958 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
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The
1958 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
was called to replace Liberal leader
Louis St. Laurent
, who had resigned as Prime Minister after the party's sudden defeat in the
1957 election
. On the first ballot, former External Affairs minister
Lester Pearson
defeated former cabinet minister
Paul Martin
and Mayor of
Portage la Prairie
,
Harold Lloyd Henderson
.
[1]
Background
[
edit
]
The Liberals had held power for 22 years until their defeat in the
1957 federal election
on June 10, 1957, which returned a
Progressive Conservative
minority government
.
Louis St. Laurent
, who had led the Liberals since 1948, announced on September 6, 1957 that he would not be leading the Liberals into another election.
[2]
Candidates
[
edit
]
- Harold Lloyd Henderson
, 51, Mayor of
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
.
- Paul Martin Sr.
, 54, former Minister of National Health and Welfare (1946-1957), MP for
Essex East
, Ontario since 1935.
- Lester Pearson
, 60, former Secretary of State for External Affairs (1948-1957), MP for
Algoma East
, Ontario since 1948.
Donald Hugh Mackay
, Mayor of Calgary, withdrew his candidacy a week before the convention.
Former Finance Minister
Walter Edward Harris
, who had lost his seat in the election, had initially been expected to be Pearson's main competitor but did not run.
[3]
Newfoundland MP and former Minister for Citizenship and Immigration
Jack Pickersgill
was also expected to run but did not stand. Other names mentioned as possible candidates were former Fisheries Minister and British Columbia MP
James Sinclair
(
Coast?Capilano
), former Transport Minister and Montreal MP
George Carlyle Marler
(
Saint-Antoine?Westmount
), and former Public Works Minister
Robert Winters
who had lost his
Queens?Lunenburg
, Nova Scotia seat in the election.
[3]
Pearson was the choice of the party establishment, had strong support from MPs in Quebec and Toronto, and won overwhelmingly on the first ballot and was also helped by being awarded the 1957
Nobel Peace Prize
weeks before the convention. Martin, who had been on the left of the St. Laurent cabinet, attempted to appeal to the rank-and-file,
[1]
Results
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]
First ballot
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Pearson
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77.83%
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Martin
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22.10%
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Henderson
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0.07%
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References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"1958 Liberal Convention"
.
CPAC
. Cable Public Affairs Channel
. Retrieved
February 6,
2016
.
- ^
"St. Laurent Statement".
Globe and Mail
. September 7, 1957.
- ^
a
b
"Pearson's Post Position: Leadership Struggle Expected".
Globe and Mail
. September 7, 1957.
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