A Liberal, he served two terms as prime minister (1968–1979; 1980–1984). He led the Liberal Party in five general elections, winning four (1968, 1972, 1974 and 1980) and losing one (1979). He won majority governments in 1968, 1974 and 1980, and a minority government in the 1972 election. With a total of fifteen years and 164 days in office, he is the third longest serving prime minister, after William Lyon Mackenzie King and Sir John A. Macdonald.
Trudeau succeeded Lester B. Pearson as prime minister in 1968. After Joe Clark won the 1979 election, Trudeau resigned and became Leader of the Opposition. The Clark government fell on a budget matter late in 1979 triggering the 1980 election, which returned Trudeau to office with a majority government. He retired in 1984 and was succeeded as Liberal leader and prime minister by John Turner.
Trudeau led the Liberals in five general elections. He was successful in the general elections of 1968, 1972 (albeit with a minority government), and 1974, but was defeated by Joe Clark in the 1979 election. However, Clark's minority government was defeated late in 1979, triggering another election in early 1980, which Trudeau won.[4]
Trudeau stood for election to the House of Commons six times (in 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1980), each time from the riding of Mount Royal, in Montreal, Quebec. He was elected with substantial majorities each election. His lowest vote count, in the 1965 election, was 55.6%, out of a field of four candidates. In his next election, in 1968 at the height of Trudeaumania, he received 90.8% of the votes in the riding. In the next four elections, he received over 70% in one election (1974), and over 80% of the votes in three elections (1972, 1979 and 1980). Trudeau served in the House of Commons for 18 years, 7 months and 22 days.[5]
Trudeau won the Liberal leadership at the 1968 Liberal leadership convention, from a field of nine candidates. Trudeau won on the fourth ballot by the narrow margin of 51.1% over the runner-up, Robert Winters, who had 40.6% of the votes. Future prime minister John Turner came in third, with 8.3% of the votes. As Liberal leader, Trudeau then became prime minister.
Federal general elections: 1968 to 1980
Trudeau led the Liberal Party in five general elections. He won four (1968, 1972, 1974 and 1980) and lost one (1979). He won three majority governments in the 1968, 1974 and 1980 elections, and a minority government in the 1972 election.
Trudeau was elected leader of the Liberal Party on April 6, 1968. He called the election shortly afterwards and won a majority, defeating the Progressive Conservatives led by Robert L. Stanfield.
Canadian Federal Election, 1968 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
1 Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election. 2 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election. 3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.
Trudeau led the Liberals in the 1972 election and was returned to office, but with a minority government. Stanfield and the Progressive Conservatives won only two seats less than the Liberals.
Canadian Federal Election, 1972 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
1 Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election. 2 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election. 3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.
Trudeau led the Liberals in the 1974 election and was returned to office with a majority government, again defeating Stanfield and the Progressive Conservatives.
Canadian Federal Election, 1974 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
1 Prime Minister when election was called; Prime Minister after election. 2 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election. 3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.
Trudeau led the Liberals in the 1979 election and was defeated. He resigned as prime minister. Joe Clark, the new leader of the Progressive Conservatives, formed a short-lived minority government.
Canadian Federal Election, 1979 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
1 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Prime Minister after election. 2 Prime Minister when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election. 3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.
After the 1979 election, Trudeau indicated he would resign as party leader, but would stay on as interim Leader of the Opposition. However, before the Liberals could elect a new leader, the Clark government fell in December 1979 when the opposition parties defeated the budget in the Commons. Trudeau led the Liberals in the resulting election and was returned to power with a majority. Clark became the Leader of the Opposition.
Canadian Federal Election, 1980 - Parties, Leaders, Seats Won and Popular Vote
1 Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Prime Minister after election. 2 Prime Minister when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election. 3 Table does not include parties which received votes but did not elect any members.
Federal constituency elections: 1965 to 1980
Trudeau stood for election to the House of Commons six times (in 1965, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1980). He was elected all six times, each time from the riding of Mount Royal, in Montreal, Quebec.
Trudeau won the leadership on the fourth ballot. His main opponents were Paul Hellyer and Robert Winters, both former ministers in Pearson's governments.
Liberal Leadership Convention, April 6, 1968 Voting results by ballot
Charles Joseph Clark is a Canadian businessman, writer, and politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Allan Joseph MacEachen was a Canadian politician and statesman who served as a senator and several times as a Cabinet minister. He was the first deputy prime minister of Canada and served from 1977 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.
Robert Lorne Stanfield was a Canadian politician who served as the 17th premier of Nova Scotia from 1956 to 1967 and the leader of the Official Opposition and leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1967 to 1976.
The 1984 Canadian federal election was held on September 4, 1984, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada.
The 1968 Canadian federal election was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 28th Parliament of Canada.
The 1980 Canadian federal election was held on February 18, 1980, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 32nd Parliament of Canada. It was called when the minority Progressive Conservative government led by Prime Minister Joe Clark was defeated in the Commons.
The 1979 Canadian federal election was held on May 22, 1979, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the Liberal Party of Canada after 16 years in power, 11 of them under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive Conservative Party to power but with only a minority of seats in the House of Commons. The Liberals, however, beat the Progressive Conservatives in the overall popular vote by more than 400,000 votes. Taking office on the eve of his 40th birthday, Clark became the youngest prime minister in Canadian history.
During the history of Canadian politics, thirteen minority governments have been elected at the federal level. There have also been two minority governments resulting from governments being replaced between elections, for a total of fifteen federal minority governments in thirteen separate minority parliaments. There have been historical cases where the governing party had fewer than half of the seats but had the support of independents who called themselves members of the party; these cases are not included, as there was never any serious chance of the government falling.
Trudeaumania was the term used throughout 1968 to describe the excitement generated by Pierre Elliott Trudeau's entry into the April 1968 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election. Trudeau won the leadership election and was sworn in as prime minister. Trudeaumania continued during the subsequent federal election and during Trudeau's early years as prime minister. Decades later, Trudeau's son, Justin Trudeau, drew a similar international reaction when he became prime minister himself in 2015.
Eldon Mattison Woolliams, was a Canadian politician and lawyer. Wooliams served as a Progressive Conservative Party member of the House of Commons of Canada.
This article is the electoral history of Louis St. Laurent, the twelfth prime minister of Canada (1948–1957).
This article is the Electoral history of John Diefenbaker, the thirteenth Prime Minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Lester B. Pearson, the fourteenth Prime Minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Joe Clark, the sixteenth Prime Minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of John Turner, the seventeenth Prime Minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Jean Chrétien, the twentieth Prime Minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Paul Martin, the twenty-first prime minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Stephen Harper, the twenty-second prime minister of Canada. Harper served as prime minister from February 6, 2006 to November 4, 2015, having won three general elections.
This article is the Electoral history of Justin Trudeau, the twenty-third and current Prime Minister of Canada. Trudeau has served as prime minister since November 5, 2015, having won three general elections.
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