1992 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election

The Ontario Liberal Party leadership election, 1992, held on February 8–9, 1992 elected Lyn McLeod as the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. McLeod replaced David Peterson who resigned after losing his seat in the 1990 provincial election. McLeod won after five ballots against a field of five other candidates. She was the first woman to head a major political party in Ontario.

1992 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election

Date	February 7–9, 1992
Convention	Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario
Resigning leader	David Peterson
Won by	Lyn McLeod
Ballots	5
Candidates	6
Spending limit	$250,000

Background

The leadership convention was held to replace David Peterson who resigned after losing his seat in the 1990 provincial election. Initially, Robert Nixon was appointed as interim leader but he resigned on July 31, 1991 to take a federal patronage position to conduct a review of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. Murray Elston was then appointed as interim leader but he resigned when he announced his candidacy on November 18. Jim Bradley was appointed as the third interim leader which he kept until the leadership convention. The leadership race officially began on November 7, 1991, 90 days before a convention which was held on the weekend of February 7–9, 1992 in Hamilton, Ontario.[1]

Candidates

Six caucus members entered the race. They were Charles Beer, Murray Elston, Steve Mahoney, Lyn McLeod, David Ramsay, and Greg Sorbara. Mahoney was first off the mark when he officially announced his candidacy on November 7, 1991.[2]

Procedure

The party adopted a procedure to elect a leader that included elements of both direct elections and a leadership convention. Members who had been party members for at least 90 days would choose delegates for the convention. Delegates sent by each riding varied depending on their support for individual candidates. Each delegate was committed to vote for a particular candidate on the first ballot but were free to choose on subsequent ballots. The hybrid format was an effort to include local democracy but with the media attention that follows a traditional convention. A spending cap of $250,000 was placed for each candidates expenses and $671,000 was budgeted for the convention weekend.[3]

Convention

Elston led until 5th ballot when he was defeated by McLeod by a slim margin of 9 votes out of a total 2,315 votes cast. Mcleod's election was the first time a woman was chosen to lead one of the three main Ontario parties. McLeod's victory was attributed to two factors. She made a deal with second-tier leadership contender Charles Beer. The Elston camp had an unexpectedly large lead on the first ballot, as McLeod lent Beer some of her delegates to give him a respectable showing, and Elston's margin dropped significantly when the eliminated Beer threw his full support behind McLeod.[4]

In her acceptance speech she promised to balance the budget and defeat the New Democrats in next election. After the convention, she revealed that she had spent $272,947 on campaign, breaking the spending cap. Elston also admitted overspending with expenses totalling $305,815.[1]

Ballot results

  = Eliminated from next round

  = Winner

Delegate support by ballot

Candidate	1st Ballot		2nd Ballot		3rd Ballot		4th Ballot		5th Ballot ^[A]
Name	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Murray Elston	740	30.2	767	31.8	865	35.6	988	41.6	1153	49.8
Lyn McLeod	667	27.2	744	30.9	873	35.9	1049	44.1	1162	50.2
Greg Sorbara	345	14.1	380	15.8	402	16.6	341	14.3	Released delegates
Charles Beer	247	10.1	307	12.7	289	11.9	Released delegates
Steve Mahoney	236	9.6	213	8.8	Supported McLeod
David Ramsay	216	8.8	Released delegates
Votes cast by ballot
Total	2451	100.0	2411	100.0	2429	100.0	2378	100.0	2315	100.0

^A There were 21 spoiled ballots on the final count, mostly from die-hard supporters of Sorbara.

References

1. Rand Dyck; Sam Bottomley (1998). David Leyton-Brown (ed.). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs, 1992. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 161.
2. "Liberals set to pick leader". The Windsor Star. November 8, 1991. p. A1.
3. Maychak, Matt; Todd, Paula (November 9, 1991). "Liberals kick off drive for Ontario party leader". Toronto Star. p. A12.
4. Egan, Kelly (February 9, 1992). "Ontario Liberals pick McLeod; First woman leader wins by nine votes on fifth ballot". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A1.