Progressive Conservative leadership convention, 1967

The 1967 Progressive Conservative leadership convention was held to choose a leader for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. The convention was held at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 4x and 9, 1967. Robert Stanfield was elected the new leader.

The voting

Mary Walker-Sawka was eliminated as the candidate receiving the fewest votes. John MacLean withdrew because he did not want the convention ?to go too late?. Stanfield was, as expected, at the head of the pack, but did not win the 600 votes that he needed in order make victory certain. Hamilton resisted pressure from other Diefenbaker loyalists to withdraw in favour of Diefenbaker. Fleming?s placement at the bottom of the list of ?serious? candidates was a significant disappointment to him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Michael Starr was eliminated. Sen. Wallace McCutcheon withdrew and encouraged his supporters to vote for Stanfield. Stanfield and Roblin were clearly the only candidates with momentum as the vote totals for each of them increased by about 100. Other candidates either held their vote, or saw their delegates begin to drift off to other camps. Diefenbaker?s loss of over a third of his votes from the first ballot made it clear that this would be the end of his leadership.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fleming was eliminated. His campaign manager joined the Stanfield camp. Hees withdrew because his vote had fallen from the second ballot, and encouraged his delegates to vote for Stanfield. Stanfield and Roblin continued to increase their votes, while the other candidates were unable to stop their momentum. Diefenbaker, having lost another third of his delegates, dramatically walked out of the convention. He later sent MP Gordon Churchill as an emissary to accept a Roblin badge.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hamilton was eliminated. Hees? delegates ignored his appeal to support Stanfield and largely moved to the Roblin camp, narrowing the gap between the two leading candidates significantly, and putting Roblin back in the race. Fulton withdrew, however, and encouraged his supporters to vote for Stanfield, dashing Roblin?s chances.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Fifth Ballot

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~