Big Blue Machine

The Big Blue Machine was a nickname for the group of strategists and advisors to the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party in Ontario, Canada, in the 1970s and 1980s. The moniker was coined by journalist Claire Hoy of the "Toronto Star" in April 1971. It has most frequently been applied to Bill Davis' term in office from 1971 to 1985 where his Red Tory government won election after election by promising moderate, well-run government. During that time, the Progressive Conservatives often ran to the left of the Liberals. Davis' period was only a portion of an unprecedented 42 consecutive years of Tory rule in Ontario, and sometimes earlier organizations are also referred to by the Big Blue Machine moniker.

Noted members included Alan Eagleson, William Kelly, Patrick Kinsella, Gerald Nori, Eddie Goodman, Norm Atkins, and Ross DeGeer. The party workers were often accused of being dismissive of the Members of Provincial Parliament they helped to elect, and would sometimes draft legislation without any input from the Tory caucus or cabinet.

The Big Blue Machine lent their expertise to the British Columbia Social Credit Party, enabling the latter to win the election there. This group of exported advisors was known as the Baby Blue Machine but the political machine did not last since B.C. Premier Bill Bennett retired in 1986.

The 1985 leadership convention was the beginning of the end for the Big Blue Machine's influence, as they endorsed Larry Grossman, who was defeated by the more conservative Frank Miller. Under Miller's leadership, the PC Party finally lost power in the 1985 election. Although Grossman won the party leadership after Miller's resignation later in that year, the Big Blue Machine was again marginalized as he took the party to the right in the 1987 snap election.

In the 1990 leadership convention, Dianne Cunningham ran as the choice of the establishment and the Big Blue Machine. She was defeated by Mike Harris in what some saw as an upset, as Cunningham's Red Tory leanings associated her with the unpopular federal Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney. Harris represented the party's right-wing and was not associated with the Mulroney government in the minds of most voters.

Harris embodied a more conservative style, promoting tax cuts and a shift toward the American model of free markets that differed significantly from centrist governance of Bill Davis and the Big Blue Machine. His "Common Sense Revolution" agenda returned the Tories to power in the 1995 provincial election. Many Conservatives MPPs under Harris were openly dismissive of Davis-era spending policies, and frequently highlighted the differences between Davis and Harris on policy issues.

With the shift in Ontario politics within the past generation the policy of the Big Blue Machine in the Davis era would be considered the domain of the Liberal Party. Dalton McGuinty in fact it has been argued is more conservative in policy than Bill Davis was during his premiership.