List of Alberta official opposition leaders
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This is a list of Leaders of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta since 1905 to present.
Alberta has enjoyed long periods of stable government rule, and has elected massive government majority during almost every election in its history. In most other legislatures in Canada, the opposition party is traditionally recognized as a government in waiting, and will alternate periods of government among two or three parties. In Alberta however the opposition has traditionally been very small in terms of seat numbers, and highly unstable in terms of party leadership.
Only once has the province voted a new government in from the Official opposition instead preferring to choose a new third party.
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[edit] List of opposition leaders
| Name | Party | Became Leader | Left Office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Robertson | Conservative | 1905 | 1909 | |
| Richard Bennett | Conservative | 1909 | 1910 | |
| Edward Michener | Conservative | 1910 | 1917 | |
| George Hoadley | Conservative | 1917 | 1920 | |
| James Ramsey | Conservative | 1920 | 1921 | |
| Albert Ewing | Conservative | 1921 | 1921 | |
| John R. Boyle | Liberal | 1921 | 1924 | |
| Charles R. Mitchell | Liberal | 1924 | 1926 | |
| John C. Bowen | Liberal | 1926 | 1926 | |
| No Official Opposition Leader 1926 - 1940 | ||||
| James H. Walker | Independent | 1941 | 1941 | |
| Alfred Speakerman | Independent | 1941 | 1942 | |
| James Mahaffy | Independent | 1942 | 1944 | |
| 2. | James H. Walker | Independent | 1944 | 1945 |
| John Percy Page | Independent | 1944 | 1948 | |
| Independent Citizen's Association | 1948 | 1948 | ||
| No Official Opposition Leader 1949 - 1951 | ||||
| James Harper Prowse | Liberal | 1951 | 1958 | |
| John Walter Grant MacEwan | Liberal | 1959 | 1960 | |
| No Official Opposition Leader 1960 - 1963 | ||||
| Michael Maccagno | Liberal | 1963 | 1967 | |
| Peter Lougheed | Progressive Conservative | 1967 | 1971 | |
| Harry Strom | Social Credit | 1971 | 1971 | |
| James Henderson | Social Credit | 1971 | 1975 | |
| Robert C. Clark | Social Credit | 1975 | 1980 | |
| Raymond Speaker | Social Credit | 1980 | 1982 | |
| Grant Notley | New Democratic Party | 1982 | 1984 | |
| Ray Martin | New Democratic Party | 1985 | 1993 | |
| Laurence Decore | Liberal | 1993 | 1994 | |
| Bettie Hewes | Liberal | 1994 | 1994 | |
| Grant Mitchell | Liberal | 1994 | 1998 | |
| Nancy MacBeth | Liberal | 1998 | 2001 | |
| Ken Nicol | Liberal | 2001 | 2004 | |
| Don Massey | Liberal | 2004 | 2004 | |
| Kevin Taft | Liberal | 2004 | Incumbent | |
[edit] The Conservative and Liberal years 1905 to 1940
In the early years of the provincial legislature the opposition was dominated by the Conservative Party. This was a party built on remnants of the old Territorial Conservative Association. The party started out in 1905 forming opposition with only 2 seats in the legislative assembly, and proportionally grew as much as 20 seats in 1921 as Albertans grew tired of the scandals of the Liberal government.
The Conservatives looked poised to form government after a strong showing in the 1917 general election. However both the Liberals and Conservatives were wiped out of the legislature in the 1921 general election by the United Farmers of Alberta. Albertans still distrusting of old line dominion parties opted instead for a new party that had third party status as the Non-Partisan League of Alberta, and later became the United Farmers.
With the Conservatives wiped out of the legislature, and the Liberals formed the opposition from 1921 to 1926 confined to the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. The Liberals were helped by the fact that the United Farmers did not typically run candidates in the cities. From 1926 to 1940 the Liberals formed the official opposition, however no official opposition leader was named.
[edit] The Unity Movement to the rise of Lougheed 1940 to 1971
Opposition through the 1940s was dominated by the Unity Movement a coalition by the Liberal and Conservative parties to run Candidates as Independents, in the Alberta general election, 1940 the movement was successful at forming a large opposition that nearly equaled the popular vote of the ruling Alberta Social Credit Party. The Independents however turned out to be confusing and hard to sustain, from 1940 to 1944 the leaders of the opposition changed with every legislative session. The Independents were advertised through a third party group known as the Independent Citizen's Association. The last Independent opposition leader John Percy Page ran for the Citizen's Association in 1948 but was defeated, ending the Unity Movement.
The Independents popularity started to decline in the late 1940s with new found prosperity in Alberta and satisfaction with new Premier Ernest Manning. The Liberal party had emerged dominate bolstered by the decline of the federal Conservative Party of Canada. The Liberals ended up forming the official opposition until the 1967 general election when the Progressive Conservatives shocked the province by winning 6 seats.
In the 1959 general election, 3 opposition parties managed to each win one seat in the legislature, no opposition leader was named until after the 1963 general election.
The Progressive Conservatives lead by Peter Lougheed while in opposition grew to 10 members through winning 2 by-elections and 2 floor crossings. The Progressive Conservatives defeated the 35 year rule of Social Credit in the 1971 general election and have held government ever since.
[edit] Modern day opposition 1971 to present
From 1971 to 1982 the remains of the former Social Credit government held the opposition, they were unable to make a smooth transition and did not elect any new members in this period. The party collapsed in 1982, when its last 2 caucus members left to sit as Independents. The party has not been a significant force in Alberta since.
After the 1982 general election the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta had to make a controversial ruling, on the 2 former Social Credit members bid to became the official opposition, or decide if it should go to the New Democratic Party which held 2 seats. The speaker ruled in favor of the NDP. The new found opposition status would help the party grow to 16 seats from 1986 to 1993 until they were wiped out of the legislature by popular Liberal leader Laurence Decore.
The Liberals would once again become the official opposition for the first time since 1967 under Laurence Decore who help the Liberals soar to popularity not seen since the early 1900s. Decore however did not last long as his health started to fail, and the Liberal party lost popularity as the Progressive Conservatives recovered support under Ralph Klein. The Liberals have held official opposition to present day with varying degrees of success. In the 2004 general election the Liberal gained to 16 seats under Kevin Taft, half of the 32 under Laurence Decore, however their popular vote still decreased, these gains were made in large part to votes siphoned by the Alberta Alliance Party and a depressed voter turnout.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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|---|---|---|
| Lieutenant-Governor | Norman Kwong • Former lieutenant-governors |  |
| Premier | Ed Stelmach • Former premiers | |
| Opposition Leader | Kevin Taft • Former Opposition Leaders | |
| Speaker of the Assembly | Ken Kowalski | |
| Legislature | Current assembly • Former legislatures • Executive Council (Cabinet) | |
| Political parties | Progressive Conservatives • Liberals • New Democrats • Alliance Alberta Party • Communists • Greens • Separation • Social Credit |
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| Elections | 2004 general election • Past elections • Electoral districts • Current electoral divisions | |
| Current issues | Equalization payments • Prosperity Bonus • Same-sex marriage • Separatism | |
| Other Canadian politics | Federal • BC • AB • SK • MB • ON • QC • NB • NS • PEI • NL • YU • NT • NU | |
