Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, 1948
| Date | August 7, 1948 |
|---|---|
| Convention | Ottawa Coliseum, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario |
| Resigning leader | William Lyon Mackenzie King |
| Won by | Louis St. Laurent |
| Ballots | 1 |
| Candidates | 3 |
The 1948 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election was called to replace retiring Liberal leader and sitting Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The convention was held exactly 29 years after the 1919 leadership convention that saw King elected Liberal leader.
Secretary of State for External Affairs Louis St. Laurent defeated Minister of Agriculture (and former Premier of Saskatchewan) James Garfield Gardiner and former cabinet minister Charles Gavan Power on the first ballot, and would be sworn in as Prime Minister later that year.
Premier of Saskatchewan (1926–1929, 1934–1935)
MP for Melville, Saskatchewan (1940–1958)
MP for Assiniboia, Saskatchewan (1936–1940)
Minister of Agriculture (1935–1957)
Gardiner, 64, called for increased immigration and closer ties to the United Kingdom. His support was strongest in Alberta, British Columbia, and his home province of Saskatchewan, and he was seen as St. Laurent's primary competition. His convention speech, which went over the allotted 20 minutes, asked for a chance to be the party's "spark plug." King campaigned hard against Gardiner, calling his campaign "ruthless and selfish," and criticized his tactics.
...
Wikipedia