Edward Heath the Liberal Party. Despite losing a second general election in October that year, he vowed to continue as leader of his party. In February 1975, Margaret Thatcher challenged and defeated him to win the leadership. Returning to the backbenches, Heath became an active critic of Thatcher's leadership. He remained a backbench MP until retiring at the 2001 election, serving as the Father of the House for his last nine years in Parliament. Outside politics, Heath was a world-class yachtsman and a talented musician. He died in 2005, aged 89. He is one of only four British prime ministers never to
1938 Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election some Conservatives as he had quit the party and run as an Independent Conservative in the 1937 provincial election in protest of the pro-labour stance of leader Earl Rowe during the Ontario government's conflict with the Congress of Industrial Organizations in Oshawa. First ballot: See also: Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership conventions 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