Progressive Conservative leadership conventions

The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. Prior to then the party's leader was chosen by caucus. There have been two permanent leaders since 1927 who were not chosen by a leadership convention. Arthur Meighen agreed to serve a second term as leader in 1941 on condition that he would not have to contest the position. The party agreed since the party was desperate for a leader of Meighen's stature. Jean Charest was one of only two Progressive Conservative MPss returned in the 1993 Canadian election and was appointed leader by the party's executive with the decision later being affirmed at a regular party convention two years later. The Conservative Party became the Progressive Conservative party in 1942.

All leadership conventions were delegated except for in 1998 when a one-member-one-vote (OMOV) process was used in which each riding was allocated 100 points which were distibuted among candiates by proportional representation For the 2003 leadership election the party reverted to use of a delegated convention, obstensibly because of the cost of using an OMOV process though it has been argued that the party feared that use of OMOV would make an outside takeover of the party easier due to a decline in membership. In 2004 the new Conservative Party of Canada adopted the OMOV process the Tories had used in 1998.

1927 Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on October 12, 1927.

First Ballot
BENNETT, Richard Bedford 594
GUTHRIE, Hugh 345
CAHAN, Charles Hazlitt 310
MANION, Robert James 170
ROGERS, Robert 114
DRAYTON, Henry Lumley 31
Total ballots cast 1564

Second Ballot
BENNETT, Richard Bedford 780
GUTHRIE, Hugh 320
CAHAN, Charles Hazlitt 266
MANION, Robert James 148
ROGERS, Robert 37
DRAYTON, Henry Lumley 3
Total ballots cast 1554

1938 Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on July 7, 1938.

First Ballot
MANION, Robert James 726
MACPHERSON, Murdoch Alexander 475
HARRIS, Joseph Henry 131
MASSEY, Denton 128
LAWSON, James Earl 105
Total ballots cast 1565

Second Ballot
MANION, Robert James 830
MACPHERSON, Murdoch Alexander 648
HARRIS, Joseph Henry 49
MASSEY, Denton 39
Total ballots cast 1566

1942 (Progressive) Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on December 11, 1942.

First Ballot
BRACKEN, John 420
MACPHERSON, Murdoch Alexander 222
DIEFENBAKER, John George 120
GREEN, Howard Charles 88
STEVENS, Henry Herbert 20
Total ballots cast 870

Second Ballot
BRACKEN, John 538
MACPHERSON, Murdoch Alexander 255
DIEFENBAKER, John George 79
Total ballots cast 872

First Ballot
STANFIELD, Robert Lorne 519
ROBLIN, Dufferin (Duff) 347
FULTON, Edmund Davie 343
HEES, George Harris 295
DIEFENBAKER, John George 271
MCCUTCHEON, Maclyn Wallace 137
HAMILTON, Francis Alvin George 136
FLEMING, Donald Methuen 126
STARR, Michael 45
MACLEAN, John 10
WALKER-SAWKA, Mary 2
Total ballots cast 2231

Second Ballot
STANFIELD, Robert Lorne 613
ROBLIN, Dufferin (Duff) 430
FULTON, Edmund Davie 346
HEES, George Harris 299
DIEFENBAKER, John George 172
HAMILTON, Francis Alvin George 127
FLEMING, Donald Methuen 115
MCCUTCHEON, Maclyn Wallace 76
STARR, Michael 34
Total ballots cast 2212

Third Ballot
STANFIELD, Robert Lorne 717
ROBLIN, Dufferin (Duff) 541
FULTON, Edmund Davie 361
HEES, George Harris 277
DIEFENBAKER, John George 114
HAMILTON, Francis Alvin George 106
FLEMING, Donald Methuen 76
Total ballots cast 2192

Fourth Ballot
STANFIELD, Robert Lorne 865
ROBLIN, Dufferin (Duff) 771
FULTON, Edmund Davie 357
HAMILTON, Francis Alvin George 167
Total ballots cast 2160

Fifth Ballot
STANFIELD, Robert Lorne 1150
ROBLIN, Dufferin (Duff) 969
Total ballots cast 2119

1976 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on February 22, 1976.

First Ballot
WAGNER, Claude 531
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 357
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 277
HORNER, John (Jack) Henry 235
HELLYER, Paul Theodore 231
MACDONALD, Flora Isabel 214
STEVENS, Sinclair McKnight 182
FRASER, John 127
GILLIES, James McPhail 87
NOWLAN, John Patrick (Pat) 86
GRAFFTEY, William Heward 33
Total ballots cast 2360
Grafftey is eliminated and Gillies withdraws. Sinclair Stevens withdraws and endorses Joe Clark.

Second Ballot
WAGNER, Claude 667
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 532
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 419
HORNER, John (Jack) Henry 286
MACDONALD, Flora Isabel 239
HELLYER, Paul Theodore 118
NOWLAN, John Patrick (Pat) 42
FRASER, John 34
Total ballots cast 2337
MacDonald withdraws after this ballot and endorses Clark.

Third Ballot
WAGNER, Claude 1003
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 969
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 369
Total ballots cast 2341

Fourth Ballot
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 1187
WAGNER, Claude 1122
Total ballots cast 2309

1983 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on June 11, 1983.

First Ballot
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 1091
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 874
CROSBIE, John Carnell 639
WILSON, Michael Holcombe 144
CROMBIE, David Edward 116
POCKLINGTON, Peter 102
GAMBLE, John Albert 17
FRASER, Neil 5
Total ballots cast 2988
Gamble, Pocklington and Wilson drop off or withdraw and endorse Mulroney.

Second Ballot
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 1085
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 1021
CROSBIE, John Carnell 781
CROMBIE, David Edward 67
Total ballots cast 2954
Crombie drops off and endorses Crosbie.

Third Ballot
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 1058
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 1036
CROSBIE, John Carnell 858
Total ballots cast 2952
Crosbie drops off and releases his delegates not endorsing anyone.

Fourth Ballot
MULRONEY, Martin Brian 1584
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 1325
Total ballots cast 2909

1993 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on June 13, 1993.

First Ballot
CAMPBELL, A. Kim 1664
CHAREST, Jean J 1369
EDWARDS, James (Jim) Stewart 307
TURNER, Garth 76
BOYER, Patrick 53
Total ballots cast 3469

Second Ballot
CAMPBELL, A. Kim 1817
CHAREST, Jean J 1630
Total ballots cast 3447

1995 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Hull, Quebec on April 29, 1995.

Vote to ratify Jean Charest as leader:
Yes 1187
No 49
Total ballots cast 1236

1998 Progressive Conservative Leadership Election

Held on October 24 and November 14, 1998. Used a point system which allocated each riding 100 points to be distributed among the canadidates by proportional representation according to votes cast in the riding. This same system was used by the Conservative Party of Canada in 2004.

First Ballot
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 14592 (48.48%)
SEGAL, Hugh 5689 (18.90%)
ORCHARD, David 4916 (16.33%)
PALLISTER, Brian 3676 (12.21%)
FORTIER, Michael 1227 (4.08%)
Total points 30100
Fortier drops off. Segal and Pallister withdraw. All endorse Clark.

Second Ballot
CLARK, Charles Joseph (Joe) 23321 (77.48%)
ORCHARD, David 6779 (22.52%)
Total points 30100

2003 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention

Held in Toronto, Ontario on May 31, 2003.

First Ballot
MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1080 (41.08%)
ORCHARD, David 640 (24.34%)
PRENTICE, Jim 478 (18.18%)
BRISON, Scott 431 (16.39%)
CHANDLER, Craig 0 (0%)*
Total ballots cast 2629
Chandler withdrew before voting began to endorse Prentice.

'\Second Ballot'
MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1018 (39.67%)
ORCHARD, David 619 (24.12%)
PRENTICE, Jim 466 (18.16%)
BRISON, Scott 463 (18.04%)
Total ballots cast 2566
Brison drops off and supports Prentice.

Third Ballot
MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1128 (45.01%)
PRENTICE, Jim 761 (30.37%)
ORCHARD, David 617 (24.62%)
Total ballots cast 2506
Orchard throws his support to MacKay after the two men sign an agreement committing MacKay PC Party to not merge with the Canadian Alliance and to hold a review of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement.

Fourth Ballot
MACKAY, Peter Gordon 1538 (64.79%)'''
PRENTICE, Jim 836 (35.21%)
Total ballots cast 2374

Conservative Party of Canada

At the end of 2003 the memberships of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives voted to dissolve their parties and form a new Conservative Party of Canada. A leadership election was held March 20, 2004.

2004 Conservative Leadership Election

March 20, 2004

'First Ballot
HARPER, Steven Joseph 17,296 (56.2%)
STRONACH, Belinda 10,613 (34.5%)
CLEMENT, Anthony (Tony) Peter 2,887 (9.4%)
Points needed to win: 15,400.1

Each of 308 ridings had 100 points which were distributed by proportional representation according to votes cast by party members in the riding.

For more information on the contest see: 2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership race

Source: Parliament of Canada website