Progressive Party of Manitoba
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Progressive Party of Manitoba
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| Former provincial party | |
| Leader | John Bracken |
| Founded | c. 1920 |
| Dissolved | 1932 |
| Merged into | Manitoba Liberal Party |
| Ideology | Progressivism, agrarianism |
The Progressive Party of Manitoba, Canada, was a political party that developed from the United Farmers of Manitoba, an agrarian movement that became politically active following World War I. A successor to the Manitoba Grain Growers' Association, the UFM represented the interests of farmers frustrated with traditional political parties.
Unlike the United Farmers, the Progressive Party of Manitoba never made any serious effort to cooperate with the labour politicians. The Winnipeg General Strike was unpopular among farmers, and the Progressive Party of Manitoba was not generally regarded as friendly to labour.
A number of "farmer candidates" ran in Manitoba's provincial election of 1920. They were not an organized group, and had no pretensions of forming government; nevertheless, twelve of these candidates were elected—eight as supporters of the UFM, and four as independents. Had the UFM run a united campaign, it probably would have won the election.
The Independent-Farmers group was formed to represent the victorious candidates in the parliament which followed. This was never intended to be a permanent political organization, and dissolved when parliament broke up in 1922. The group's leader was William Robson, who did not seek re-election thereafter.
The United Farmers of Manitoba entered electoral politics in 1921, and ran an organized campaign in the 1922 election. However, expectations were still very low. They had no leader and a shoestring campaign budget, and only ran candidates in two-thirds of the province's ridings. Despite this, they won 28 out of 55 seats for a strong majority government.
Faced with the task of selecting a leader who would become the province's new premier, the UFM asked John Bracken, president of the Manitoba Agricultural College, to become party leader and premier-designate. Once in government, Bracken's followers identified themselves as the Progressive Party of Manitoba, maintaining an affiliation with the UFM.
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