Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1976

Progressive Conservative Party leadership election, 1976

← 1967 February 22, 1976 1983 →
Candidate Joe Clark Claude Wagner Brian Mulroney Party Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Fourth (Final) Ballot 1,187 - 51.4% 1,122 - 48.6% Eliminated Third Ballot 969 - 41.4% 1,003 - 42.8% 369 - 15.8% Second Ballot 532 - 22.8% 667 - 28.5% 419 - 17.9% First Ballot 277 - 11.7% 531 - 22.5% 357 - 15.1%   Candidate Jack Horner Paul Hellyer Flora MacDonald Party Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Fourth (Final) Ballot Withdrew Withdrew Withdrew Third Ballot Withdrew Withdrew Withdrew Second Ballot 286 - 12.2% 118 - 5.1% 239- 10.2% First Ballot 235 - 10.0% 231 - 9.8% 214 - 9.1%   Candidate John Allen Fraser Pat Nowlan Sinclair Stevens Party Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Progressive Conservative Fourth (Final) Ballot Withdrew Eliminated Withdrew Third Ballot Withdrew Eliminated Withdrew Second Ballot 34 - 1.5% 42 - 1.8% Withdrew First Ballot 127 - 5.4% 86 - 3.6% 182 - 7.7%
Leader before election Robert Stanfield Elected Leader Joe Clark

Progressive Conservative leadership election, 1976

Date	February 22, 1976
Convention	Ottawa Civic Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
Resigning leader	Robert Stanfield
Won by	Joe Clark
Ballots	4
Candidates	11
Entrance Fee	C$?
Spending limit	None
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Robert Stanfield

Joe Clark

The 1976 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held at the Ottawa Civic Centre in Ottawa on February 22, 1976, to elect a leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to replace Robert Stanfield, who had resigned after losing the 1968, 1972, and 1974 elections. It unexpectedly elected a 36-year-old, little-known PC Member of Parliament from Alberta as the party's new leader. Joe Clark defeated Claude Wagner on the fourth ballot of the convention by a margin of 65 votes.

The convention's delegates were elected by the party's riding associations, along with the party's youth, campus and women's associations. There were also numerous ex officio delegates, including PC Members of Parliament, defeated candidates from the previous election, members of provincial legislatures, members of the party's national executive and the executives of provincial parties affiliated to the federal party. Delegates cast secret ballots, so their votes were not "tied" to any candidate. After each ballot, the candidate winning the fewest votes was removed from the ballot for the next round. Several candidates withdrew voluntarily when it became clear that they would not be able to win.

Richard Quittenton, president of St. Clair College in Windsor, had also been a candidate but withdrew before the first ballot and endorsed Wagner.

Clark placed a surprisingly strong third on the first ballot. As other Red Tory candidates withdrew, Red Tories rallied behind Clark, pushing him into first place only on the fourth ballot of the convention.

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