History of the Conservative Party (UK) holding a leadership election to allow him to renew his mandate. In spite of his track record as Conservative party leader, which had included defeat at three out of four general elections, few both inside and out of the party expected him to be seriously challenged, let alone defeated. However, Margaret Thatcher stood against Heath and in a shock result outpolled him on the first ballot, leading him to withdraw from the contest. Thatcher then faced off four other candidates to become the first woman to lead a major British political party. Thatcher had much support from the monetarists, led
1938 Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election 1938 Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election A Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election (formally the convention of the Liberal-Conservative Association of Ontario) was on December 9, 1938 at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto to replace retiring Conservative leader Earl Rowe, who had resigned after his party lost the 1937 provincial election to Mitchell Hepburn's Liberals. Colonel George A. Drew was considered the front-runner leading into the convention and stared down a challenge by "old guard" candidate Earl Lawson, a former MP, who had declared his candidacy the week prior to the convention. Drew's candidacy was considered controversial by