This page lists the results of leadership elections within the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (known as the Conservative Party of Ontario before 1942).
Before 1920, leaders of the Conservative Party were usually chosen by caucus. In 1914, William Hearst was selected at a meeting of the province's executive council (or cabinet) as James Whitney, the previous leader, had died while holding the office of Premier of Ontario.
All of the party's leadership races before 1990 were determined by delegated conventions. The leadership races of 1990, 2002 and 2004 were determined by a weighted vote of all party members, with each constituency contributing an equal number of "votes" to the total. The 1990 race was decided in one round, while the 2002 race took two. For the 2004 election, the party introduced a preferential balloting system, such that party members would only be required to vote one time.
1920 Conservative Party leadership convention
(Held on December 2, 1920.)
Howard Ferguson won on first ballot Earl Lawson George Stewart Henry
(Note: The vote totals were not announced.)
When Ferguson resigned as Premier in 1930, he selected George Henry as his replacement. Henry was subsequently confirmed as party leader at a special Meeting on June 24, 1931.The Canadian Annual Review of Public Affairs, 1930-31, p. 108
1936 Conservative Party leadership convention
(Held on May 28, 1936 at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.)
First ballot:
Earl Rowe 782 George A. Drew 480 William James Stewart 157 Leopold Macaulay 90 Wilfrid Heighington 70 Adam Acres 47 Arthur Ellis 10
Second ballot:
Earl Rowe 1,005 George A. Drew 660
1938 Conservative Party leadership convention
(Held on December 9, 1938, at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.)
George A. Drew 796 Earl Lawson 413 Wilfrid Heighington 41 Norman Rawson 22
1949 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on April 27, 1949.)
Leslie Frost 842 Leslie Blackwell 442 Kelso Roberts 121 Dana Porter 65
1961 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on October 25, 1961.)
+ Delegate support by ballot Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot 5th ballot 6th ballotKelso Roberts352 20.6 385 22.8 380 22.5 419 25.2 479 28.8 633 39.3John Robarts345 20.2 423 25.0 498 29.5 533 32.0 746 44.9 976 60.7Robert Macaulay339 19.8 363 21.5 372 22.1 377 22.6 438 26.3James Allan332 19.4 324 19.1 344 20.4 336 20.2A.W. Downer149 8.7 104 6.1 93 5.5Matthew Dymond148 8.7 93 5.5George Wardrope45 2.6Totals1,710 100.0 1,692 100.0 1,687 100.0 1,665 100.0 1,663 100.0 1,609 100.0
1971 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on February 12, 1971.)
+ Delegate support by ballot Candidate 1st ballot (cancelled) 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballotName Votes cast % Votes cast % Votes cast % Votes cast % Votes cast % Bill Davis 502 32.2 548 33.1 595 36.0 669 41.3 812 51.4 Allan Lawrence 379 24.3 431 26.0 498 30.1 606 37.4 768 48.6 Darcy McKeough 260 16.7 273 16.5 288 17.4 346 21.3Endorsed Davis Bob Welch 252 16.2 270 16.3 271 16.4No endorsement Bert Lawrence 154 9.9 128 7.7No endorsement Robert Pharand 13 0.8 7 0.4No endorsementTotal 1,560 100.0 1,657 100.0 1,652 100.0 1,621 100.0 1,580 100.0
January 1985 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held in Toronto on January 26, 1985.)
+ Delegate support by ballot Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballotName Votes cast % Votes cast % Votes cast % Frank Miller 591 35.0 659 39.2 869 52.3 Larry Grossman 378 22.4 514 30.5 792 47.7 Dennis Timbrell 421 24.9 508 30.2 Roy McMurtry 300 17.8Total 1,690 100.0 1,681 100.0 1,661 100.0 When eliminated, McMurtry and Timbrell supported Grossman
November 1985 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on November 16, 1985.)
First ballot:
Larry Grossman 752 Dennis Timbrell 661 Alan Pope 271
Second ballot:
Larry Grossman 848 Dennis Timbrell 829
1990 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on May 12, 1990.)
Candidate 1st ballotName Votes cast % Mike Harris 7,175 55.2 Dianne Cunningham 5,825 44.8Total 13,000 100.0
(the non-weighted vote totals were: Harris 8,661, Cunningham 7,189)
The 1990 vote was the first held on the basis of one member one vote with votes weighted so that each riding had equal weight.
2002 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on March 23, 2002.)
First ballot:
Ernie Eves 4,257 Jim Flaherty 3,031 Tony Clement 1,354 Elizabeth Witmer 1,197 Chris Stockwell 448
(Note: After the first ballot, Clement and Witmer both withdrew from the contest and supported Ernie Eves. Their names remained on the ballot for at least a part of the second round, however.)
Second ballot:
Ernie Eves 5,623 Jim Flaherty 3,898 Tony Clement 561 Elizabeth Witmer 216
(It is not clear if the non-weighted vote totals were released to the public. 44188 party members voted on the first ballot, 34,608 on the second.)
2004 Progressive Conservative leadership convention
(Held on September 18, 2004.)
First ballot:
John Tory 4,535.13 (45%) Jim Flaherty 3,274.92 (33%) Frank Klees 2,265.96 (22%) 5,039 electoral votes needed to win
(the non-weighted vote totals were Tory 12,132, Flaherty 7,951, Klees 5,240)
Second ballot: John Tory 5,390.86 (54%) Jim Flaherty 4,664.14 (46%) 5,028 electoral votes needed to win
(the non-weighted vote totals were Tory 18,037, Flaherty 14,353)
2009 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership convention
(Held on June 27, 2009, in Markham, Ontario)
+First BallotCandidateWeighted Votes(sum of percentages in each riding)PercentageTim Hudak 3,511.873 33.9Frank Klees 3,093.770 29.9Christine Elliott 2,728.664 26.4Randy Hillier 1,013.694 9.8Total 10,348 100
Movement: Hillier eliminated and endorses Hudak; prior to balloting Hillier asked his supporters to make Hudak their second choice.
+Second BallotCandidateWeighted Votes(sum of percentages in each riding)Percentage+/-Tim Hudak 4,128.570 39.95 +6.0Frank Klees 3,299.809 31.94 +1.9Christine Elliott 2,903.621 28.10 +1.6Total 10,332 100.0 Does not include votes that were spoiled because no second choice was indicated.
Movement: Elliott eliminated
+Third BallotCandidateWeighted Votes(sum of percentages in each riding)Percentage+/-Tim Hudak 5,606 54.25 +14.3Frank Klees 4,644 44.94 +13.0Total 10,332 100.0 Does not include votes that were spoiled because no second or third choice was indicated.
2015 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election
(Held in Toronto on May 27, 2015)
+Ballot CountCandidateWeighted Votes(sum of percentages in each riding)PercentagePatrick Brown6,54361.8 Christine Elliott4,04038.2 Total10,583100
2018 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election
(Held on March 10, 2018)
Called due to the resignation of party leader Patrick Brown on January 25, 2018 following allegations of sexual misconduct.
Results = Eliminated from next round = Winner
CandidateBallot 1Ballot 2Ballot 3NameVotesPointsVotes+/-Points+/-Votes+/-Points+/-Christine Elliott23,23736.28%4,18734.13%24,13837.99%9011.71%4,39435.82%2071.69%32,20251.74%8,06413.75%6,04949.38%1,65513.56%Doug Ford20,36331.80%4,09133.35%27,81243.77%7,44911.975,65246.08%1,56112.73%30,04148.26%2,2294.49%6,20250.62%5504.54%Caroline Mulroney11,09917.33%2,10717.18%11,59518.25%4960.92%2,22118.11%1140.93% eliminatedTanya Granic Allen9,34414.596%1,88215.34% eliminated TOTAL 64,04312,26763,545-49812,267062,243-1,30212,251-16
By Riding