Larry Johnston

Larry Johnston (* 1943) was a Manitoba politician and activist. In 1977, he was a leading figure in the province's Revolutionary Workers League, a Trotskyist organization aligned with the national party of the same name.

The RWL had a number of members active in the New Democratic Party, but maintained its own public organization and newspaper (and therefore did not consider itself entrist). It generally endorsed NDP candidates in elections, but also ran its own on some occasions (generally in ridings which the NDP did not contest, or had very little chance of winning).

Johnston appears to have been the only candidate to have campaigned for the RWL in a Manitoba provincial election, in 1977. Although not formally acknowledged as the party's leader, he was its primary spokesperson in the campaign.

As the RWL was not a registered party, he appeared on the ballot as an independent -- and was, in fact, the only independent candidate in the province. He was interviewed by the "Winnipeg Free Press" on this subject during the campaign, and noted the difficulties which independent candidates had in reaching a broad audience.

Johnston ran in the Winnipeg riding of Osborne, and received 47 votes, compared to 3803 for the winning candidate, Gerald Mercier of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Subsequently, the RWL seems to have limited its provincial electoral activities in Manitoba to supporting the NDP. It is not clear how long Johnston remained in the Manitoba RWL.

In the Canadian general election of 1979, Johnston ran as an Independent candidate in the riding of Winnipeg—Fort Garry as received 87 votes. At the time, he listed his occupation as a machine operator.

By the time of the Canadian general election of 1984, Johnston had moved to Ontario. During this campaign, he ran as an Independent candidate in Lincoln and received 171 votes. He listed his occupation as a steelworker, and probably worked in nearby Hamilton, Ontario.