1919 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election

Liberal leadership election, 1919

Date	August 7, 1919
Convention	Howick Hall, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa
Resigning leader	Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Won by	William Lyon Mackenzie King
Ballots	5
Candidates	4

The 1919 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election the first federal leadership convention held in Canada. It was originally called by Sir Wilfrid Laurier as a national policy convention with the intention of reinvigorating and reuniting the Liberals after eight years of being in opposition and who, as a result of theConscription Crisis of 1917, divided into Laurier Liberal, who remained in opposition, and a Liberal–Unionist faction that joined the wartime Union government of Sir Robert Borden . Laurier's death on February 17, 1919 resulted in the meeting being reconfigured as a leadership convention. Previous party leaders in Canada had been chosen by the parliamentary caucus or the outgoing leader. However, the Liberal caucus no longer felt that it was representative of Canada's linguistic and religious diversity and that allowing the entire party to select the leader would result in a more representative choice.

Candidates

• William Lyon Mackenzie King, 44, was the former Minister of Labour (1909-1911) who had served as Member of Parliament for Waterloo North from 1908 until his defeat in 1911.
• William Stevens Fielding, 70, the MP for Shelburne and Queen's was a former Minister of Finance (1896-1911( and Premier of Nova Scotia (1884-1896).
• George Perry Graham, 60, the former MP for Renfrew South, and Daniel Duncan McKenzie, 60, the Liberal Party's interim leader since Laurier's death and the MP for North Cape Breton and Victoria.

There was also an attempt to draft Saskatchewan Premier William Melville Martin, a former Liberal MP, but he declinded to run.

King had run as a Laurier Liberal in the 1917 federal election but was defeated. Fielding, who had long been seen as Laurier's natural successor, had opposed Laurier's stand on conscription and had returned to the House of Commons in 1917 as a Liberal–Unionist MP supporting the Borden government but declining the offer of a cabinet position. Graham had sat out of the 1917 election and McKenzie had run and kept his seat as a Laurier Liberal.

Convention

Voting delegates were made up of Senators, MPs, defeated candidates, premiers and provincial party leaders, presidents of provincial Liberal associations, and three delegates from each riding. Nominations were accepted in writing until the first ballot began at 3:45 pm. King lead Fielding on the first and second ballots. Graham and McKenzie withdrew in quick succession leading to the cancellation of the third and fourth ballots, respectively, which had already been underway when the successive withdrawals occurred. On the final ballot King defeated Fielding by 38 votes.

King was supported by labour elements, Quebec delegates, and the left-wing of the party. Fielding, who openly opposed the radical platform adopted by the convention, threatened to seek support from the parliamentary caucus for rejection of the platform. He was opposed by many Quebec delegates as well as delegates from his home province of Nova Scotia due to his previous stance on conscription and was supported by the right wing of the party, many western Canadian delegates, and the business establishment in Montreal.

Results

Delegate support by ballot

Candidate		1st ballot		2nd ballot		5th ballot
		Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%
	KING, William Lyon Mackenzie	344	36.3%	411	43.8%	476	52.1%
	FIELDING, William Stevens	297	31.3%	344	36.6%	438	47.9%
	GRAHAM, George Perry	153	16.2%	124	13.2%	Withdrew
	MCKENZIE, Daniel Duncan	153	16.2%	60	6.4%	Withdrew
Total		947	100.0%	939	100.0%	914	100.0%

Graham withdrew while voting for the third ballot was underway. McKenzie withdrew while voting for the fourth ballot was in process. Votes were not counted for either one, and the convention proceeded directly to the fifth ballot.