Shirley McLoughlin (born 1930)"Liberal fortunes rising: leader". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', October 17, 1983. is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who was the leader of the

British Columbia Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 Br ...

from 1981 to 1983. She was the first woman ever to lead a political party in the province."B.C. Liberal Party elects woman to lead its seatless, divided ranks". ''

'', May 25, 1981. Prior to assuming the leadership, McLoughlin worked as a teacher, and served as the party's president. She ran as the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

's candidate in

Comox—Powell River Comox—Powell River was a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1988. This riding was created in 1976 from parts of Coast Chilcotin, Comox–Alberni and ...

in the 1980 federal election, losing to

Ray Skelly Raymond John Skelly (July 1, 1941 – July 14, 2019) was a Canadian politician. A teacher by profession, Skelly was first elected as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Comox—Powell River in the 1979 federal election. He ser ...

. She was elected leader of the BC Liberals at their

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, leaders of a party generally rem ...

on May 25, 1981, over lawyer Tom Finkelstein and farmer Roland Bouwman. McLoughlin took over the leadership at a time when the party was in unprecedented crisis; under her predecessor

Jev Tothill Jevington Blair (Jev) Tothill (born 1928 or 1929) is a former Canadian politician, who was the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1979 to 1981."Tothill seeks seat for by-election". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 21, 1979. Prior to h ...

, the party had run just five candidates provincewide in the 1979 election, and had failed to win a single seat in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

for the first time in its history. She led the party to a modest resurgence, running 52 candidates in the 1983 provincial election and increasing the party's popular vote total by over 600 per cent compared to 1979, but again failed to win a seat. She was defeated in her own dual-member district of

Vancouver Centre Vancouver Centre (french: Vancouver-Centre) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917. It is the riding with the biggest Japanese community in Canada. As ...

by New Democrats Emery Barnes and

Gary Lauk Gary Vernon Lauk, (born September 7, 1940 – November 21, 2022) was a lawyer and former political figure in British Columbia. He represented Vancouver Centre in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1972 to 1986 as a New Democr ...

. She announced her resignation as party leader in August 1983. She was succeeded by Art Lee at the party's 1984 leadership convention."End confrontation politics, new B.C. Liberal chief says". ''

'', April 2, 1984. She later served two terms on the municipal council of Comox.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLoughlin, Shirley 1930 births Female Canadian political party leaders Leaders of the British Columbia Liberal Party Candidates in the 1980 Canadian federal election British Columbia municipal councillors Women municipal councillors in Canada Living people People from Comox, British Columbia British Columbia Liberal Party candidates in British Columbia provincial elections 20th-century Canadian women politicians Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons