1993 Progressive Conservative leadership election

1993 Progressive Conservative Party leadership election
← 1983 June 13, 1993 1995 →
 
Candidate Kim Campbell Jean Charest
Second ballot delegate count 1,817
(52.7%) 		1,630
(47.3%)
First ballot delegate count 1,664
(48.0%) 		1,369
(39.5%)
Leader before election

Brian Mulroney

 Elected Leader

Kim Campbell

1993 Progressive Conservative leadership election
DateJune 13, 1993
ConventionOttawa Civic Centre,[1]
Ottawa, Ontario
Resigning leaderBrian Mulroney
Won byKim Campbell
Ballots2
Candidates5
Entrance FeeC$
Spending limitNone
Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
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The 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on June 13, 1993 to choose a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and hense, Prime Minister of Canada, with Kim Campbell winning the vote in the second ballot, and hence becoming the first female Prime Minister on June 25, 1993.[2]

Initially, Campbell's popularity caused very few prominent Progressive Conservatives to enter the race, with Michael Wilson, Perrin Beatty, Barbara McDougall, and Joe Clark not making expected runs. Jean Charest had to be convinced to run by Brian Mulroney, but once in the race, he ran an energetic campaign directed by established party organizers loyal to Mulroney, who would later lead the 1993 federal election campaign team. That turned the race from a coronation into a divisive grass roots battle for delegates.

Candidates

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Patrick Boyer

[edit]
Background

MP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, Ontario (1984–1993)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State for External Affairs (1989-1991)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence (1991-1993)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, Science and Technology (1993)

Kim Campbell

[edit]
Kim Campbell
Background

MP for Vancouver Centre, British Columbia (1988–1993)
BC Social Credit MLA for Vancouver-Point Grey (1986-1988).
Minister of Justice (1990-1993)
Minister responsible for Federal-Provincial Relations (1993)
Minister of Veterans Affairs (1993)
Minister of National Defence (1993)

Supporters

Jean Charest

[edit]
Jean Charest
Background

MP for Sherbrooke, Quebec (1984–1993)
Minister of State (Youth) (1986-1990)
Minister of the Environment (1991-1993)

Supporters

Jim Edwards

[edit]
Background

MP for Edmonton Southwest, Alberta (1984–1993)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications (1985-1986 and 1989-1991)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1988-1989)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of State (Agriculture) (1991-1992)
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs (1991-1992)

Supporters

Garth Turner

[edit]
Garth Turner
Background

MP for Halton—Peel, Ontario (1988–1993)

Endorsements

[edit]
Main article: Endorsements for the 1993 Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership convention

Kim Campbell received the most endorsements from sitting MPs, with 43 backing her. 38 declared their support for Jean Charest, while 15 backed Jim Edwards. Patrick Boyer and Garth Turner were both sitting MPs and neither were supported by any other sitting MP.

Candidate BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PE NL NT YT Total
Patrick Boyer Members: - - - - 1 - - - - - - - 1
Kim Campbell Members: 6 5 - 1 16 8 4 2 - 1 - - 43
Jean Charest Members: 1 4 2 2 10 15 1 2 - 1 - - 38
Jim Edwards Members: - 6 - 1 6 2 - - - - - - 15
Garth Turner Members: - - - - 1 - - - - - - - 1
Unaffiliated Members: - 7 - 3 - - - - - - - - -

Results

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Though it was initially expected that Campbell's election as party leader would be little more than a formality, as the convention drew nearer it became apparent that Charest's candidacy was proving far more popular than Campbell and her team had expected, and that she might struggle to defeat him on the first round. Sure enough, Campbell narrowly failed to win outright, coming 60 delegates short of immediate victory. Charest placed a solid second, with none of the other candidates managing to break ten percent of the overall delegate count.

Edwards, who had placed third, agreed to drop out and endorse Campbell prior to the second round, which gave her the support she needed to claim victory. Despite Edwards' endorsement, however, only about half of his delegates actually did move to support Campbell; the remaining half instead backed Charest, along with virtually all of Turner's and Boyer's delegates. This left Campbell's final total as 52.7% of the delegates, making this second-only to Joe Clark's shock win over Claude Wagner in 1976 as the most closely contested Progressive Conservative leadership contest.

Delegate support by ballot[3]
Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot
Votes cast % Votes cast %
CAMPBELL, Avril Phædra Douglas (Kim) 1,664 48.0% 1,817 52.7%
CHAREST, John James (Jean) 1,369 39.5% 1,630 47.3%
EDWARDS, James Stewart (Jim) 307 8.8% Endorsed Campbell
TURNER, John Garth 76 2.2% Withdrew; Did not endorse
BOYER, J. Patrick 53 1.5% Endorsed Charest
Total 3,469 100.0% 3,447 100.0%
First round
Campbell
 
 47.97%
Charest
 
 39.46%
Edwards
 
 8.85%
Turner
 
 2.19%
Boyer
 
 1.53%
Final round
Campbell
 
 52.71%
Charest
 
 47.29%

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Undecideds crucial to winner: Campbell's conventional speech just fine for some". Globe and Mail. June 14, 1993.
  2. ^ Kavanagh, Dennis; Riches, Christopher (2013). A Dictionary of Political Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199569137. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
  3. ^ "1993 Progressive Conservative Leadership Convention". CPAC. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
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