The 1987 Liberal Leadership Election
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I need a TL intro.
This isn't even a TLIAPOT!
shut
Fine, what is this about?
Canadian politics.
Just Canadian politics?
I'll do some stuff with the U.K. and U.S., but that will be the focus.
Can we just start this?
Sure.
In 1984, John Turner’s Liberal Party would face a horrible defeat to Brian Mulroney, with the Grits only having 40 seats to the Tories’ 211. After the election, anti-Turner Liberals turned to the runner-up in 1984’s leadership election, Jean Chrétien. Chrétien had been Pierre Trudeau’s chosen successor and had turned quite critical of Turner post-election. His supporters believed the former External Affairs Secretary would have won or at least relegated losses in 1984. A leadership review would be held in 1986 to determine the Liberal Party’s future. Chrétien resigned in early 1986 to increase his organization for the review, in what would be a grueling and nasty campaign. Turner’s advisors encouraged him to get immigrants to join the party, but the Leader of the Opposition was confident enough of victory to avoid doing this. Some of Turner’s supporters decided to attack Chrétien, with one saying, “Look at that face, would anyone vote for that?” Chrétien loyalists fought back with rumors of Turner’s alcoholism. With the Turner side in disarray, he would end up losing the review.
The inevitable candidate to run would be Chrétien, who would announce a campaign soon after (although he had been privately building up efforts for a year). Two other candidates would run. Paul Martin Jr. was a businessman and son of Paul Martin Sr., a notable 1960s Liberal politician. Martin was positioned as a “Turner but not Turner” candidate, as he held similar political views. Turner positioned himself as a Prime Minister, even modeling his look around former Prime Minister Lester Pearson. David Orchard, a rancher from Saskatchewan, would run on an anti-free trade and social conservative platform, although he was seen as a fringe candidate (with his only endorsements coming from pro-life groups). The campaigning was a continuation of the leadership review, with both the Turner and Chrétien sides going after each other. Paul Martin stayed relatively neutral, but focused attacks more on Chrétien, while Orchard would go and attack all candidates. On the first ballot, Chrétien would have a lead over Turner, with Martin being in a distant third (with Turner supporters calling him a spoiler). Orchard shocked everyone with his performance, but it was still far from victory. Most analysts believed Martin would be endorsing Turner on the next ballot, giving him a victory. However, he would endorse Chrétien, leading some to think there was a backroom deal of some sort (Martin and Chrétien have repeatedly denied this). This momentum bump for Chrétien led him to win the Liberal leadership on the next ballot.
I need a TL intro.
This isn't even a TLIAPOT!
shut
Fine, what is this about?
Canadian politics.
Just Canadian politics?
I'll do some stuff with the U.K. and U.S., but that will be the focus.
Can we just start this?
Sure.
The inevitable candidate to run would be Chrétien, who would announce a campaign soon after (although he had been privately building up efforts for a year). Two other candidates would run. Paul Martin Jr. was a businessman and son of Paul Martin Sr., a notable 1960s Liberal politician. Martin was positioned as a “Turner but not Turner” candidate, as he held similar political views. Turner positioned himself as a Prime Minister, even modeling his look around former Prime Minister Lester Pearson. David Orchard, a rancher from Saskatchewan, would run on an anti-free trade and social conservative platform, although he was seen as a fringe candidate (with his only endorsements coming from pro-life groups). The campaigning was a continuation of the leadership review, with both the Turner and Chrétien sides going after each other. Paul Martin stayed relatively neutral, but focused attacks more on Chrétien, while Orchard would go and attack all candidates. On the first ballot, Chrétien would have a lead over Turner, with Martin being in a distant third (with Turner supporters calling him a spoiler). Orchard shocked everyone with his performance, but it was still far from victory. Most analysts believed Martin would be endorsing Turner on the next ballot, giving him a victory. However, he would endorse Chrétien, leading some to think there was a backroom deal of some sort (Martin and Chrétien have repeatedly denied this). This momentum bump for Chrétien led him to win the Liberal leadership on the next ballot.
As soon as the Liberal convention finished, the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats used it to say that the Liberal Party was in disarray, but polls showed that Canadians preferred Chrétien to Turner.
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