Austin Bingley Claypool (April 13, 1887 – June 4, 1956) was a provincial politician from

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. He served as a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from singl ...

from 1921 to 1935 sitting with the United Farmers caucus in government.

Political career

Claypool ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature for the first time in the

1921 Alberta general election The 1921 Alberta general election was held on July 18, 1921, to elect members to the 5th Alberta Legislative Assembly. It was one of only five times that Alberta has changed governments. The Liberal Party, which had governed the province since it ...

. He ran as a United Farmers candidate in the electoral district of Didsbury. Claypool defeated Liberal candidate George Webber with a comfortable majority to win the two-way race. Claypool ran for a second term in the

1926 Alberta general election The 1926 Alberta general election was held on June 28, 1926, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The United Farmers of Alberta government that had first been elected in 1921 was re-elected, taking a majority of the seats in t ...

. The race was contested by three candidates. Claypool won a large majority despite losing some of his popular vote from 1921. The

1930 Alberta general election Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condit ...

would see Claypool stand for his third term. He ran in a two-way race against Independent W.A. Austin and beat him by less than 300 votes to hold his seat. Claypool ran for a fourth term in the

1935 Alberta general election The 1935 Alberta general election was held on August 22, 1935, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The newly founded Social Credit Party of Alberta won a sweeping victory, unseating the 14-year government of the United Farmer ...

but was defeated in the four-way race finishing a distant second place to Social Credit candidate Edward Foster. Claypool made a bid to run for a seat to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 1940 federal election. He ran in a five-way race as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate but was defeated finishing a close second to incumbent Charles Johnston. Claypool died in an automobile crash near his hometown of Muncie, Indiana in 1956.

References

External links

Legislative Assembly of Alberta Members Listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claypool, Austin United Farmers of Alberta MLAs Candidates in the 1940 Canadian federal election 1887 births 1956 deaths People from Muncie, Indiana American emigrants to Canada Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Road incident deaths in Indiana