From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1958 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election

Party election in Canada

Field	Value
election_name	1958 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
country	Canada
flag_year	1957
type	presidential
ongoing	no
previous_year	[1948](1948-liberal-party-of-canada-leadership-election)
next_year	[1968](1968-liberal-party-of-canada-leadership-election)
election_date	January 16, 1958
1blank	Delegate count
2blank	Percentage
image1	[[File:Lester B. Pearson 1957 (4951614) (cropped2).jpg	x150px]]
colour1
candidate1	Lester B. Pearson
1data1	1,074
2data1	77.8%
image2	[[File:Paul Martin Sr. 1964 (cropped).jpg	x150px]]
colour2
candidate2	Paul Martin Sr.
1data2	305
2data2	22.1%
title	Leader
before_election	Louis St. Laurent
after_election	Lester B. Pearson

party = Liberal| colour = | year = 1958| logo = | date = January 16, 1958| location = Ottawa Coliseum, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario | winner = Lester Pearson | replaces = Louis St. Laurent | numcands = 3| ballots = 1| entryfee = | spendcap = | In 1958, the Liberal Party of Canada held a leadership election to replace leader Louis St. Laurent, who had resigned as Prime Minister after the party's 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.

Background

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.

Candidates

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 B. 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. 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.

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,

Results

Candidate	Delegate Support	Percentage	Total	1,380
[[File:Lester B. Pearson with a pencil.jpg	50px]]	Lester B. Pearson	1,074	77.8%
[[File:Paulmartinsr.jpg	50px]]	Paul Martin Sr.	305	22.1%
	Harold Lloyd Henderson	1	0.1%

References

"1958 Liberal Convention". Cable Public Affairs Channel.
(September 7, 1957). "St. Laurent Statement". Globe and Mail.
(September 7, 1957). "Pearson's Post Position: Leadership Struggle Expected". Globe and Mail.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

liberal-party-of-canada-leadership-elections 1958-elections-in-canada 1958-political-party-leadership-elections january-1958-in-canada 1950s-in-ottawa lester-b.-pearson

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1958 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report