The Ontario Liberal Party leadership election, 1964, held on September 17–19, 1964

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

Andy Thompson as the leader of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser (Ontario MPP), John Fraser since August 2022. The party esp ...

. Thompson replace

John Wintermeyer John Joseph Wintermeyer (December 4, 1916 – December 20, 1993) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1963 who represented the riding of Waterloo North. From 1958 to ...

who resigned after losing his seat in the 1963 provincial election. Thompson won after six ballots against a field of seven other candidates.

Background

The leadership convention was held to replace

who resigned after losing his seat in the 1963 provincial election. Four caucus members entered the race. They were Andy Thompson, Robert Nixon, Eddie Sargent, and Joseph Gould. In addition

Victor Copps The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * Victor (1951 film), ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * Victor (1993 film), ...

, the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario,

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a federal MP and

Charles Templeton Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former Christian evangelist. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced atheism after strugg ...

, a popular Toronto evangelist and preacher also entered the race. Andy Thompson had recently attained notoriety for speaking out against

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Fred Cass Frederick McIntosh Cass Queen's Counsel, Q.C., Canadian Forces' Decoration, C.D. ( August 5, 1913 – November 25, 2000) was a Canadian politician who served as both Attorney-General of Ontario and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of On ...

's "police bill" and was seen as a leading candidate. The convention was held at the Royal York Hotel from September 17–19. Thompson emerged as the winner on the sixth ballot. While the leadership race generated some enthusiasm, prospects for the party were not good. The Liberals had held office only three times for a total of 13 years since 1900. The party caucus had not changed much since the last leadership election and they had recently lost a by-election. They also failed to elect populist Charles Templeton to office. Thompson would last only two years as leader before resigning due to stress induced health problems.

Ballot results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ontario Liberal Party Leadership Convention, 1964 1964 elections in Canada #1964

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

Ontario Liberal Party leadership election