Social Credit Party of Alberta leadership election, 1968

The Alberta Social Credit leadership convention, 1968, took place in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Canada, on December 4, 1968, to select a candidate to replace Ernest Manning as leader of the Social Credit Party of Alberta. Because Social Credit enjoyed a substantial majority in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta at the time and because convention dictates that the Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta asks the leader of the largest party in the legislature to form government, the contest was a de facto selection of the next Premier of Alberta. Harry Strom, long-time Minister of Agriculture and later Minister of Municipal Affairs in Manning's government, came out on top of a six person field on the second ballot.

Ernest Manning had been Social Credit's leader and premier of Alberta since he was selected by his caucus to succeed deceased party founder William Aberhart in 1943. Though still not an old man, he had decided to retire as premier after a record-setting 25 years, sensing the mood of change that was beginning to grip the province - his son, Preston Manning, claimed in 2003 that his father was concerned that Social Credit might lose the next election.

Social Credit had never held a leadership contest before. As founder, Aberhart had emerged as the unquestioned leader in advance of the 1935 election, and Manning was the obvious and unanimous choice of his caucus after Aberhart's death in 1943.

The initial favourite was Anders Aalborg, Manning's provincial treasurer. He wanted the job, but declined to enter the race due to health concerns. This left the field open to other, less well-known, candidates.

There were five candidates for most of the pre-convention period, with veteran Alfred Hooke entering at the last minute before the convention. The candidates were

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