1964 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election

The Ontario Liberal Party leadership election, 1964, held on September 17–19, 1964 elected Andy Thompson as the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. Thompson replace John Wintermeyer who resigned after losing his seat in the 1963 provincial election. Thompson won after six ballots against a field of seven other candidates.

1964 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election
DateSeptember 17–19, 1964
ConventionRoyal York Hotel,
Toronto, Ontario
Resigning leaderJohn Wintermeyer
Won byAndy Thompson
Ballots6
Candidates7

Background

The leadership convention was held to replace John Wintermeyer who resigned after losing his seat in the 1963 provincial election. Four caucus members entered the race. They were Andy Thompson, Robert Nixon, Eddie Sargent, and Joseph Gould. In addition Victor Copps, the mayor of Hamilton, Ontario, Joe Greene a federal MP and Charles Templeton, a popular Toronto evangelist and preacher also entered the race.

Andy Thompson had recently attained notoriety for speaking out against Attorney General Fred Cass's "police bill" and was seen as a leading candidate. The convention was held at the Royal York Hotel from September 17–19. Thompson emerged as the winner on the sixth ballot. While the leadership race generated some enthusiasm, prospects for the party were not good. The Liberals had held office only three times for a total of 13 years since 1900. The party caucus had not changed much since the last leadership election and they had recently lost a by-election. They also failed to elect populist Charles Templeton to office. Thompson would last only two years as leader before resigning due to stress induced health problems.[1]

Ballot results
Delegate support by ballot
Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot 5th ballot 6th ballot
Name Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  %
Andy Thompson 379 27.7 408 29.7 462 33.6 520 38.1 539 39.9 772 58.8
Charles Templeton 317 23.1 356 25.9 396 28.8 422 30.9 419 31.0 540 41.2
Robert Nixon 313 22.8 351 25.6 356 25.9 387 28.3 392 29.0
Joe Greene 236 17.2 211 15.4 149 10.9 37 2.7
Victor Copps 61 4.5 27 2.0 10 0.7
Eddie Sargent 51 3.7 20 1.5
Joseph Gould 13 0.9
Total 1,370 100.0 1,373 100.0 1,373 100.0 1,366 100.0 1,350 100.0 1,312 100.0

References
  1. Fred Schindler (1965). John Saywell (ed.). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs for 1964. University of Toronto Press. pp. 115–116.
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