The Canadian province of Manitoba was created in 1870. Manitoba has a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The premier is Manitoba's head of government, and the King of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba. The premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of Manitoba, and then presides over that body.
Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election, but the premier may ask for early dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. An election may also happen if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a confidence motion.
Before 1888, Manitoba had no formal party system; premiers were officially non-partisan and were chosen by elected members of the Legislative Assembly from among themselves.
Manitoba has had 24 individuals serve as premier since the province was formed, of which six were non-partisan, nine were Progressive Conservatives, four were Liberals, five were New Democrats and one was Progressive. However, during the early years of the province, the leading minister in the legislature was designated provincial secretary and the government was de facto led by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba; it was not until 1874 that responsible government was introduced and the title of "premier" used.Davd Burley, "The Emergence of the Premiership, 1870-1874," Manitoba Premiers of the 19th and 20th centuries, Barry Ferguson and Robert Wardhaugh, eds., Great Plains, 2010 The early provincial secretaries, as the most prominent elected officials in the province, are retroactively counted as premiers in modern sources.
This article only covers the time since the province was created in 1870. Before that, the territory was part of the District of Assiniboia in Rupert's Land, and was loosely controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Wab Kinew is the incumbent premier, since October 2023.
On December 7, 2023, Louis Riel was granted the honorary title of "First Premier of Manitoba" after the Louis Riel Act received royal assent. As it is an honorary title, however, Alfred Boyd remains the official first premier of the province.
Premiers of Manitoba
|colspan="10"|Chief Ministers of Manitoba
|colspan="10"|Premiers of Manitoba
List of premiers by time in office Rank Premier Incumbency Terms of office MandatesPartyRef. 1 August 8, 1922 January 14, 1943 5 2 October 29, 1900 May 12, 1915 4 3 January 19, 1888 January 6, 1900 3 4 May 9, 1988 October 5, 1999 3 5 October 5, 1999 October 19, 2009 3 6 November 13, 1948 June 30, 1958 2 7 June 30, 1958 November 27, 1967 4 8 October 16, 1878 December 24, 1887 4 9 July 15, 1969 October 24, 1977 2 10 May 12, 1915 August 8, 1922 2 11 October 19, 2009 May 3, 2016 1 12 November 30, 1981 May 9, 1988 2 13 January 14, 1943 November 13, 1948 1 14 May 5, 2016 September 1, 2021 2 15 October 24, 1977 November 17, 1981 1 16 December 3, 1874 October 16, 1878 1 17 (incumbent)October 18, 2023Incumbent1 18 March 14, 1872 July 8, 1874 0 19 November 2, 2021 October 18, 2023 0 20 November 27, 1967 July 15, 1969 0 21 September 16, 1870 December 14, 1871 1 22 January 10, 1900 October 29, 1900 1 23 December 14, 1871 March 14, 1872 0 24 September 1, 2021 November 2, 2021 0 25 December 26, 1887 January 19, 1888 0
See also Premier of Manitoba List of premiers of Manitoba by time in office Leader of the Opposition (Manitoba)
Notes
References General
Specific
External links Office of the Premier at the Province of Manitoba