User:Mr Serjeant Buzfuz/Electoral history of Allan Blakeney

Allan Blakeney
Tenth Premier of Saskatchewan
1971 to 1982

This article is the Electoral history of Allan Blakeney, the tenth Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. He served from 1971 to 1982. He led the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) in five general elections, in 1971, 1975, 1978, 1982, and 1986. He was the first of three NDP premiers to date.

Blakeney was successful in his first three elections as leader, winning majority governments each time. He was defeated in the general election of 1982 by Grant Devine and the Progressive Conservative Party and resigned as Premier, becoming Leader of the Opposition. Blakeney led the NDP in the 1986 general election, but was again defeated by Premier Devine and the Progressive Conservatives. He resigned as leader of the NDP in 1988 and retired from politics.

Summary

Blakeney was the third-longest serving Premier of the fifteen Premiers of Saskatchewan. He was in office from June 30, 1971 to May 8, 1982, for a total of 10 years, 312 days.

Blakeney led the New Democratic Party in five provincial general elections: 1971, 1975, 1978, 1982, and 1986. He won his first election as leader, in 1971, defeating Ross Thatcher, who resigned as Premier and was succeeded by Blakeney. As Premier, Blakeney also won majority governments in the next two elections. Blakeney is one of only four premiers of Saskatchewan who won three or more majority governments, the others being Walter Scott, Tommy Douglas, and Brad Wall.

He was defeated by Grant Devine and the Progressive Conservatives in the 1982 general election. Blakeney resigned as Premier and became the Leader of the Opposition. He led the NDP in the 1986 election but was again defeated by Devine. Although he was personally re-elected to his seat, he resigned as leader of the NDP and Leader of the Opposition in 1988 and retired from politics.

Blakeney stood for election eight times, in various constituencies for the city of Regina. He was elected all eight times.

Blakeney was the Minister of Education in Premier Tommy Douglas's Cabinet for one year, from 1960 to 1961. He was the Provincial Treasurer in Premier Woodrow Lloyd's government (1961-1962), and then the Minister of Public Health (1962-1964). As health minister, Blakeney was charged with implementing the CCF medicare plan.

Saskatchewan general elections, 1971 to 1986

Blakeney led the NDP in five general elections: 1971, 1975, 1978, 1982, and 1986. He won his first three elections with majority governments, but lost the last two elections.

1971 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1971.

For information about the 17th Legislature, 1971 to 1975, see 17th Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 17th Legislature, see Allan Blakeney § Premier.

In the 1971 election, Blakeney led the NDP against Premier Thatcher and the Liberals. He won a majority government, the first for the NDP, the successor to the CCF. Thatcher died a month after the election.

Saskatchewan General Election: June 23, 1971

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney1	45	248,978	55.0%
	Liberal	Ross Thatcher2	15	193,864	42.8%
	Progressive Conservative	Edward Nasserden	0	9,659	2.1%
	Independent	–	0	189	0.0%3
	Communist	–	0	46	0.0%3
Total			60	452,736	99.9%4
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1971

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; died a month after the election.
³ Rounds to zero.
⁴ Rounding error.

1975 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1975.

For information about the 18th Legislature, 1975 to 1978, see 18th Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 18th Legislature, see Allan Blakeney § Premier.

In the 1975 election, Blakeney led the NDP to another majority government, this time against Davey Steuart, the new leader of the Liberals, who came in second. The new leader of the Progressive Conservatives, Dick Collver, led the party to seven seats, their best showing since 1929.

Saskatchewan General Election: June 11, 1975

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney1	39	180,700	40.1%
	Liberal	Davey Steuart2	15	142,853	31.7%
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Collver	7	124,573	27.6%
	Independent	–	0	2,897	0.6%
Total			61	451,023	100.0%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1975

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; resigned after the election.

1978 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1978.

For information about the 19th Legislature, 1978 to 1982, see 19th Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 19th Legislature, see Allan Blakeney § Premier.

In the 1978 election, Blakeney led the NDP to another majority government. The Progressive Conservatives under Collver came in second place and formed the Official Opposition. The Liberals under their new leader, Ted Malone, did not win a seat.

Saskatchewan General Election: October 18, 1978

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney1	44	228,791	48.1%
	Progressive Conservative	Dick Collver2	17	181,045	38.1%
	Liberal	Ted Malone3	0	65,498	13.8%
	Independent	–	0	81	0.0%4
Total			61	475,415	100.0%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1978

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Co-Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Co-Leader of the Opposition when election was called; not a Member of the Legislative Assembly after the election.
⁴ Rounds to zero.

1982 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1982.

For information about the 20th Legislature, 1982 to 1986, see 20th Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 20th Legislature, see Allan Blakeney § Defeats in 1982, 1986.

In the 1982 election, Blakeney and the NDP were defeated by the Progressive Conservatives under their new leader, Grant Devine. The NDP were reduced from majority government to a nine member Opposition, one of the worst defeats of a government in Saskatchewan history.

Saskatchewan General Election: April 26, 1982

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine1	55	289,311	54.1%
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney2	9	201,390	37.6%
	Liberal	Ralph Goodale	0	24,134	4.5%
	Western Canada Concept	–	0	17,487	3.3%
	Aboriginal People's Party	–	0	1,156	0.2%
	Independent	–	0	1,607	0.3%
Total			64	535,085	100.0%
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1982

¹ Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Premier after election.
² Premier when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.

1986 General election

For more detailed tables of election results, see Saskatchewan general election, 1986.

For information about the 21st Legislature, 1986 to 1991, see 21st Saskatchewan Legislature.

For information about political events during the 21st Legislature, see Allan Blakeney § Defeats in 1982, 1986.

In the 1986 election, Blakeney again led the NDP. Although the NDP won a plurality of votes overall and substantially increased their number of seats, Premier Devine and the Progressive Conservatives won a majority of the seats in the Legislative Assembly. Blakeney was personally re-elected, but in 1988 he resigned as Leader of the Opposition and retired from politics.

Saskatchewan General Election: October 20, 1986

Party		Leaders	Seats Won	Popular Vote	Popular Vote Percentage
	Progressive Conservative	Grant Devine1	38	244,382	44.6%
	New Democratic Party	Allan Blakeney2	25	247,683	45.2%
	Liberal	Ralph Goodale	1	54,739	10.0%
	Western Canada Concept	–	0	458	0.1%
	Alliance	–	0	237	0.0%3
	Communist	–	0	73	0.0%3
	Independent	–	0	358	0.0%3
Total			64	547,930	99.9%4
Source: Elections Saskatchewan - Elections Results - 1986

¹ Premier when election was called; Premier after election.
² Leader of the Opposition when election was called; Leader of the Opposition after the election.
³ Rounds to zero.
⁴ Rounding error.

Saskatchewan constituency elections

Blakeney stood for election to the Legislative Assembly in eight general elections, all in the city of Regina, which went through various electoral re-distributions during this period. He was elected in all eight elections, from 1960 to 1986.

1960 General election: Regina City

General Election, June 8, 1960: Regina City - Four Members

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	X Charles Cromwell Williams	23,425	11.1%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Allan Blakeney	22,382	10.6%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	X Marjorie Alexandra Cooper	22,205	10.6%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	Edward Charles Whelan	21,806	10.4%
	Liberal	Frederick W. Johnson	16,662	7.9%
	Liberal	Leslie Charles Sherman	16,316	7.8%
	Liberal	James Gillis Collins	15,578	7.4%
	Liberal	Mavis Jeanne Adams	14,589	6.9%
	Progressive Conservative	John Leishman	7,944	3.8%
	Social Credit	Henry Austin Hunt	7,652	3.6%
	Social Credit	Bert Louis Iannone	7,206	3.4%
	Progressive Conservative	Murdoch Alexander MacPherson	7,194	3.4%
	Social Credit	G. Lindsay Bower	7,103	3.4%
	Social Credit	William G. Gamlin	7,058	3.4%
	Progressive Conservative	Donald Bowman	6,358	3.0%
	Progressive Conservative	Walter Schmidt	5,175	2.5%
	Independent	Leslie Hibbs	698	0.3%
	Independent	Herbert Kenneth Cooper	624	0.3%
	Communist	William Charles Beeching	345	0.2%
Total			210,320	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina City

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1964 General election: Regina West

General Election, April 22, 1964: Regina West - Two members

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	X Allan Blakeney	9,076	24.7%
	Co-operative Commonwealth Federation	X Marjorie Alexandra Cooper	8,413	22.9%
	Liberal	Alex Cochrane	7,770	21.2%
	Liberal	Betty Sear	6,981	19.0%
	Progressive Conservative	Donald K. MacPherson	4,495	12.2%
Total			36,735	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina West

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1967 General election: Regina Centre

General Election, October 11, 1967: Regina Centre

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Allan Blakeney	4,363	57.1%
	Liberal	Pat McKerral	2,442	31.9%
	Progressive Conservative	Les Youngson	698	9.1%
	Social Credit	Nelson Falkowsky	142	1.9%
Total			7,645	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina Centre

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1971 General election: Regina Centre

General Election, June 23, 1971: Regina Centre

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Allan Blakeney	9,804	69.7%
	Liberal	Ben Freitag	4,252	30.3%
Total			14,056	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina Centre

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1975 General election: Regina Elphinstone

General Election, June 11, 1975: Regina Elphinstone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Allan Blakeney	4,096	59.0%
	Liberal	Donna Welke	1,474	21.2%
	Progressive Conservative	Arthur Cropley	1,374	19.8%
Total			6,944	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina Elphinstone

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1978 General election: Regina Elphinstone

General Election, October 18, 1978: Regina Elphinstone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Allan Blakeney	4,390	70.4%
	Progressive Conservative	Christine Whitaker	1,250	20.0%
	Liberal	R. Lawson Wilde	596	9.6%
Total			6,236	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina Elphinstone

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1982 General election: Regina Elphinstone

General Election, April 26, 1982: Regina Elphinstone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Allan Blakeney	4,139	55.5%
	Progressive Conservative	J. Ross Reibling	3,066	41.1%
	Liberal	Glenn Caleval	255	3.4%
Total			7,460	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina Elphinstone

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1986 General election: Regina Elphinstone

General Election, October 20, 1986: Regina Elphinstone

Party		Candidate	Popular Vote	%
	New Democratic Party	X Allan Blakeney	5,288	70.9%
	Progressive Conservative	Al Empringham	1,678	22.5%
	Liberal	Don McGregor	492	6.6%
Total			7,458	100.0%
Source: Saskatchewan Archives - Election Results by Electoral Division - Regina Elphinstone

Elected.
X Incumbent.

1970 NDP Leadership election

When Woodrow Lloyd retired as leader, the NDP held a leadership convention in 1970. Blakeney trailed Roy Romanow on the first two ballots, but won on the third ballot.

NDP Leadership Convention, July 4, 1970
Voting results by ballot

Candidate		First Ballot		Second Ballot		Third Ballot
		Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%	Votes cast	%
	Allan Blakeney	286	33.6%	311	36.6%	407	53.8%
	Roy Romanow	300	35.3%	320	37.6%	349	46.2%
	Don Mitchell	187	22.0%	219	25.8%	–	–
	George Taylor	78	9.2%	–	–	–	–
Total		851	100.1%1	850	100.0%	756	100.0

¹ Rounding error.

External links

• Elections Saskatchewan - Election Results
• Saskatchewan Archives: Saskatchewan Executive and Legislative Directory