Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership conventions

This page lists the results of leadership conventions within the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (known as the "Conservative Party of Ontario" before 1942).

Before 1920, leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party were usually chosen by caucus. In 1914, William Hearst was selected at a meeting of the province's executive council (or cabinet) as James Whitney, the previous leader, had died while holding the office of Premier.

All of the party's leadership races before 1990 were determined by delegated conventions. The leadership races of 1990, 2002 and 2004 were determined by a weighted vote of all party members, with each constituency contributing an equal number of "votes" to the total. The 1990 race was decided in one round, while the 2002 race took two. For the 2004 race, the party introduced a preferential balloting system, such that party members would only be required to vote one time.

1920 Conservative Party leadership convention

(Held on December 2, 1920.)

*FERGUSON, George won on first ballot
*LAWSON, Earl
*HENRY, George

(Note: The vote totals were not announced.)

See also: Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention, 1920

When Ferguson resigned as Premier in 1930, he selected George Henry as his replacement. Henry was subsequently confirmed as party leader at a convention, presumably without opposition.

1936 Conservative Party leadership convention

(Held on May 28, 1936.)

First ballot:

*ROWE, Earl 782
*DREW, George 480
*STEWART, William James 157
*MACAULAY, Leopold 90
*HEIGHINGTON, Wilfrid 70
*ACRES, Adam 47
*ELLIS, Arthur 10

Second ballot:

*ROWE, Earl 1005
*DREW, George 660

See also: Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention, 1936

1938 Conservative Party leadership convention

(Held on December 9, 1938.)

*DREW, George 796
*LAWSON, Earl 413
*HEIGHINGTON, Wilfrid 41
*RAWSON, Norman 22

See also: Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention, 1938

1949 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on April 27, 1949.)

*FROST, Leslie 842
*BLACKWELL, Leslie 442
*ROBERTS, Kelso 121
*PORTER, Dana 65

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention, 1949

1961 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on October 25, 1961.)

First ballot:

*ROBERTS, Kelso 352
*ROBARTS, John 345
*MACAULAY, Robert 339
*ALLAN, James 332
*DOWNER, A.W. 149
*DYMOND, Matthew 148
*WARDROPE, George 45

Second ballot:

*ROBARTS, John 423
*ROBERTS, Kelso 385
*MACAULAY, Robert 363
*ALLAN, James 324
*DOWNER, A.W. 104
*DYMOND, Matthew 93

Third ballot:

*ROBARTS, John 498
*ROBERTS, Kelso 380
*MACAULAY, Robert 372
*ALLAN, James 344
*DOWNER, A.W. 93

Fourth ballot:

*ROBARTS, John 533
*ROBERTS, Kelso 419
*MACAULAY, Robert 377
*ALLAN, James 336

Fifth ballot:

*ROBARTS, John 746
*ROBERTS, Kelso 479
*MACAULAY, Robert 438

Sixth ballot:

*ROBARTS, John 976
*ROBERTS, Kelso 633

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention, 1961

1971 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on February 12, 1971.)

First ballot:

*DAVIS, Bill 548
*LAWRENCE, Allan 431
*MCKEOUGH, Darcy 273
*WELCH, Bob 270
*LAWRENCE, Bert 128
*PHARAND, Robert 7

Pharand eliminated; Bert Lawrence withdrew.

Second ballot:

*DAVIS, Bill 595
*LAWRENCE, Allan 498
*MCKEOUGH, Darcy 288
*WELCH, Bob 271

Welch eliminated.

Third ballot:

*DAVIS, Bill 669
*LAWRENCE, Allan 606
*MCKEOUGH, Darcy 346

McKeough eliminated.

Fourth ballot:

*DAVIS, Bill 812
*LAWRENCE, Allan 768

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention, 1971

January 1985 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held in Toronto on January 26, 1985.)

First ballot:

*MILLER, Frank 591
*TIMBRELL, Dennis 421
*GROSSMAN, Larry 378
*MCMURTRY, Roy 300

Second ballot (McMurtry supports Grossman):

*MILLER, Frank 659
*GROSSMAN, Larry 514
*TIMBRELL, Dennis 508

(Note: These figures were confirmed by a recount.)

Third ballot (Timbrell supports Grossman):

*MILLER, Frank 869
*GROSSMAN, Larry 792

November 1985 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on November 16, 1985.)

First ballot:

*GROSSMAN, Larry 752
*TIMBRELL, Dennis 661
*POPE, Alan 271

Second ballot:

*GROSSMAN, Larry 848
*TIMBRELL, Dennis 829

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership conventions, 1985

1990 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on May 12, 1990.)

*HARRIS, Michael 7175
*CUNNINGHAM, Dianne 5825

(the non-weighted vote totals were: Harris 8661, Cunningham 7189)

The 1990 vote was the first held on the basis of one member one vote with votes weighted so that each riding had equal weight.

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, 1990

2002 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on March 23, 2002.)

First ballot:

*EVES, Ernie 4257
*FLAHERTY, Jim 3031
*CLEMENT, Tony 1354
*WITMER, Elizabeth 1197
*STOCKWELL, Chris 448

(Note: After the first ballot, Clement and Witmer both withdrew from the contest and supported Ernie Eves. Their names remained on the ballot for at least a part of the second round, however.)

Second ballot:

*EVES, Ernie 5623
*FLAHERTY, Jim 3898
*CLEMENT, Tony 561
*WITMER, Elizabeth 216

(It is not clear if the non-weighted vote totals were released to the public. 44188 party members voted on the first ballot, 34608 on the second.)

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, 2002

2004 Progressive Conservative leadership convention

(Held on September 18, 2004.)

First ballot:

*TORY, John 4535.13 (45%)
*FLAHERTY, Jim 3274.92 (33%)
*KLEES, Frank 2265.96 (22%)"5039 electoral votes needed to win"

(the non-weighted vote totals were Tory 12,132, Flaherty 7,951, Klees 5,240)

Second ballot:
*TORY, John 5390.86 (54%)
*FLAHERTY, Jim 4664.14 (46%)"5028 electoral votes needed to win"

(the non-weighted vote totals were Tory 18,037, Flaherty 14,353)

See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, 2004