The
1975 Progressive Conservative Party leadership convention was held in early February, 1975, in the wake of Robert Stanfield's resignation as party leader after the Tories were beaten at the polls by the Social Democratic & Labor Party during the preceding years general election. Convening in Philadelphia's Civic Center, 2,360 delegates gathered for a weekend of balloting and speeches as the party prepared to face it's future. Six candidates had filed with the Progressive Conservative Party's executive committee, representing a wide range of constituencies and interests within the party.
The initial front runner was Flora MacDonald, who was only first elected to the House in 1970 from her riding, Cape Breton Island. Despite being relatively new to parliament, the Nova Scotian quickly became a national feature due to her longstanding ties to Stanfield. Her involvement in the Progressive Conservative Party's political apparatus was key to her success, having risen from receptionist to party committeewoman while working as a professor of political science and later an MP on the side. MacDonald's rise was supported by the outgoing Stanfield, who had employed her for many years. A fiercely independent woman with fiery red hair and a zest for public service, MacDonald entered the race as the favorite of the "Red Tory" wing of the party. Her populist campaign, based around bread and butter issues during a time of economic stagnation, endeared her to more pragmatic Tories, who appreciated her candor. But she was not alone in the race.
Her chief rival was Claude Wagner, a law and order focused former Quebec provincial Minister and as of 1970, a member of the House of Commons. An outspoken opponent of Quebec separatism, Wagner entered the convention with a large amount of support among delegates from his native Quebec, yet he still struggled to attract the support of conservative delegates from outside of his province. Another Quebec candidate in the mix was that of Brian Mulroney, a business executive and lawyer based out of Montreal. Running in opposition to both Wagner and MacDonald, Mulroney - only in his thirties - used his personal wealth to fund a media savvy campaign that was complete with a dancing troupe of slogan chanting cheerleaders who fired up the crowds at events on the campaign trail.
One candidate who straddled the middle between Wagner and MacDonald was George Bush, a Connecticut MP and Foreign Minister under Stanfield. Bush was a popular figure within the party, and was considered one of the stronger candidates for the leadership. Yet his relative lack of charisma hampered his campaign, and despite his personal wealth, he simply could not keep up financially with Mulroney to run a strong campaign. Though Bush had hoped his experience in the cabinet of Stanfield would make him stand tall over MacDonald, Mulroney, and Wager - all of whom were either first term MPs with no ministerial experience, or in Mulroney's case, not an MP at all, his campaign limped into the convention with fewer than anticipated delegates pledged to his campaign.
Lastly, Phil Crane, an arch-conservative MP from suburban Chicago, ran as the most outspokenly anti-communist and pro-London candidate in the field. With Wagner running on a campaign of law and order populism whereas Mulroney dominated the monetarist wing, there was little room on the right-wing of the Progressive Conservative Party for Crane to break out from. A further 17 votes, all write-ins, were also cast. Eight of these votes were for the retiring Robert Stanfield, four for Tonight Show host Ronald Reagan, three for former Premier and perennial candidate Harold Stassen, and one each for Gerald Ford and George Wallace.
When the first ballot was officially underway, it became quickly apparent to the candidates, commentators, and the viewers watching from home that something was happening. Though she entered the convention with 700 pledged delegates elected in constituency caucuses across the country, the
"Flora Syndrome" played out; as a result, more delegates that initially were skeptical of MacDonald's candidacy and gender suddenly threw their support behind her campaign during the vote, leading to a completely unanticipated (if also narrow) first ballot majority. MacDonald's election as leader of the opposition made history as she became the first woman to lead an American political party.
MacDonald's unique campaign was later written about widely and is studied to this day by political science students; starting out in the middle of the polls as a largely unknown candidate, Flora MacDonald applied her own knowledge and wide experience within the party apparatus to organize supporters on the precinct level, visiting local party chapters to organize a core group of dedicated supporters. Accompanied occasionally by a bagpiper playing the old Jacobite folk tune
Flora MacDonald, the campaign raised less money then all of her opponents spare Philip Crane, MacDonald ran her leadership campaign on a shoe string budget, employing strategies such as mail chains and visiting small businesses to hear the direct concerns of conservative voters. Her campaign remains one of the biggest upsets in American history.
For God, Crown, and Country.
Dominion of America & 1970 American Federal Election
1974 American Federal Election
Up Next: Hubert Humphrey!