Shirley McLoughlin

Shirley McLoughlin (born 1930)[1] is a former Canadian politician, who was the leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party from 1981 to 1983.[1] She was the first woman ever to lead a political party in the province.[2]

Shirley McLoughlin
Leader of the British Columbia Liberal Party
In office 1981–1984
Preceded by	Jev Tothill
Succeeded by	Art Lee
Personal details
Born	1930
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada, British Columbia Liberal Party
Residence	Comox, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	teacher

Prior to assuming the leadership, McLoughlin worked as a teacher, and served as the party's president.[3] She ran as the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in Comox—Powell River in the 1980 federal election,[4] losing to Ray Skelly. She was elected leader of the BC Liberals at their leadership convention on May 25, 1981, over lawyer Tom Finkelstein and farmer Roland Bouwman.[2]

McLoughlin took over the leadership at a time when the party was in unprecedented crisis; under her predecessor Jev Tothill, the party had run just five candidates provincewide in the 1979 election, and had failed to win a single seat in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for the first time in its history. She led the party to a modest resurgence, running 52 candidates in the 1983 provincial election and increasing the party's popular vote total by over 600 per cent compared to 1979, but again failed to win a seat.[5] She was defeated in her own dual-member district of Vancouver Centre by New Democrats Emery Barnes and Gary Lauk.

She announced her resignation as party leader in August 1983.[6] She was succeeded by Art Lee at the party's 1984 leadership convention.[7]

She later served two terms on the municipal council of Comox.

Electoral record

1980 Canadian federal election: Comox—Powell River
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Raymond Skelly	25,007	48.97	+4.69
	Progressive Conservative	Al Lazerte	16,545	32.40	-2.81
	Liberal	Shirley McLoughlin	9,221	18.06	-1.82
	Communist	Sy Pederson	292	0.57	-0.06
Total valid votes			51,065
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.75

1983 British Columbia general election: Vancouver Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Elected
	New Democratic	Emery Oakland Barnes	18,960	28.70
	New Democratic	Gary Vernon Lauk	18,743	28.37
	Social Credit	Avril Kim Campbell	12,740	19.28
	Social Credit	Philip W. Owen	12,415	18.79
	Liberal	Shirley McLoughlin	2,084	3.16
	Progressive Conservative	Kevin Baden Bruce	880	1.33
	Communist	Maurice Rush	244	0.37
Total valid votes			66,066
Total rejected ballots			84

References

1. "Liberal fortunes rising: leader". The Globe and Mail, October 17, 1983.
2. "B.C. Liberal Party elects woman to lead its seatless, divided ranks". The Globe and Mail, May 25, 1981.
3. "Liberal denounces 'childish' ads". The Globe and Mail, January 31, 1980.
4. "Togetherness - it's rare: It seems only the NDP is on speaking terms with its provincial cousin on the West Coast". The Globe and Mail, February 9, 1980.
5. "Bennett savors win, NDP ponders fate after B.C. election". The Globe and Mail, May 7, 1983.
6. "B.C. Liberal leader resigns, cites lack of seats in House". The Globe and Mail, August 16, 1983.
7. "End confrontation politics, new B.C. Liberal chief says". The Globe and Mail, April 2, 1984.