1948 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election

1948 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election
← 1919 August 7, 1948 1958 →
 
Candidate Louis St. Laurent James G. Gardiner
Delegate count 848 323
Percentage 69.1% 26.3%
Leader before election

William Lyon Mackenzie King

 Elected Leader

Louis St. Laurent

1948 Liberal leadership election
DateAugust 7, 1948
ConventionOttawa Coliseum,
Lansdowne Park,
Ottawa, Ontario
Resigning leaderWilliam Lyon Mackenzie King
Won byLouis St. Laurent
Ballots1
Candidates3
Liberal leadership elections
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The 1948 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election was called to replace retiring Liberal leader and sitting Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The convention was held exactly 29 years after the 1919 leadership convention that saw King elected Liberal leader. The National Film Board of Canada made a short film about the event for its Eye Witness series.[1]

Secretary of State for External Affairs Louis St. Laurent defeated Minister of Agriculture (and former Premier of Saskatchewan) James Garfield Gardiner and former cabinet minister Charles Gavan Power on the first ballot, and would be sworn in as prime minister later that year.

  1. ^ "Eye Witness No. 6". onf-nfb.gc.ca. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved March 11, 2023.