Shirley McLoughlin
| Shirley McLoughlin | |
|---|---|
| Leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party | |
|
In office 1981–1984 | |
| Preceded by | Jev Tothill |
| Succeeded by | Art Lee |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1930 |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | Liberal Party of Canada, British Columbia Liberal Party |
| Residence | Comox, British Columbia |
| Occupation | teacher |
Shirley McLoughlin (born 1930)[1] is a former Canadian politician, who was the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1981 to 1983.[1] She was the first woman ever to lead a political party in the province.[2]
Prior to assuming the leadership, McLoughlin worked as a teacher, and served as the party's president.[3] She ran as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in Comox—Powell River in the 1980 federal election,[4] losing to Ray Skelly. She was elected leader of the BC Liberals at their leadership convention on May 25, 1981, over lawyer Tom Finkelstein and farmer Roland Bouwman.[2]
McLoughlin took over the leadership at a time when the party was in unprecedented crisis; under her predecessor Jev Tothill, the party had run just five candidates provincewide in the 1979 election, and had failed to win a single seat in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for the first time in its history. She led the party to a modest resurgence, running 52 candidates in the 1983 provincial election and increasing the party's popular vote total by over 600 per cent compared to 1979, but again failed to win a seat.[5] She was defeated in her own dual-member district of Vancouver Centre by New Democrats Emery Barnes and Gary Lauk.
She announced her resignation as party leader in August 1983.[6] She was succeeded by Art Lee at the party's 1984 leadership convention.[7]
She later served two terms on the municipal council of Comox.
Electoral record
| Canadian federal election, 1980: Comox—Powell River | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| New Democratic | Raymond Skelly | 25,007 | 48.97 | +4.69 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Al Lazerte | 16,545 | 32.40 | -2.81 | ||||
| Liberal | Shirley McLoughlin | 9,221 | 18.06 | -1.82 | ||||
| Communist | Sy Pederson | 292 | 0.57 | -0.06 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 51,065 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | +3.75 | ||||||
| British Columbia general election, 1983: Vancouver Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Elected | ||||
| New Democratic | Emery Oakland Barnes | 18,960 | 28.70% |  | ||||
| New Democratic | Gary Vernon Lauk | 18,743 | 28.37% | | ||||
| Social Credit | Avril Kim Campbell | 12,740 | 19.28% | |||||
| Social Credit | Philip W. Owen | 12,415 | 18.79% | |||||
| Liberal | Shirley McLoughlin | 2,084 | 3.16% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Kevin Baden Bruce | 880 | 1.33% | |||||
| Communist | Maurice Rush | 244 | 0.37% | |||||
| Total valid votes | 66,066 | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 84 | |||||||
References
- 1 2 "Liberal fortunes rising: leader". The Globe and Mail, October 17, 1983.
- 1 2 "B.C. Liberal Party elects woman to lead its seatless, divided ranks". The Globe and Mail, May 25, 1981.
- ↑ "Liberal denounces 'childish' ads". The Globe and Mail, January 31, 1980.
- ↑ "Togetherness - it's rare: It seems only the NDP is on speaking terms with its provincial cousin on the West Coast". The Globe and Mail, February 9, 1980.
- ↑ "Bennett savors win, NDP ponders fate after B.C. election". The Globe and Mail, May 7, 1983.
- ↑ "B.C. Liberal leader resigns, cites lack of seats in House". The Globe and Mail, August 16, 1983.
- ↑ "End confrontation politics, new B.C. Liberal chief says". The Globe and Mail, April 2, 1984.