Simon Fraser Tolmie and the British Columbia Conservative Party, 1916-1933

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dc.contributor.authorParker, Ian Donalden_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T17:13:54Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T17:13:54Z
dc.date.copyright1970en_US
dc.date.issued1970
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of History
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en
dc.description.abstractThis thesis explains the collapse of the last Conservative ministry of British Columbia under the leadership of S. F. Tolmie. Coming to office with thirty-five of forty-seven seats in the Legislative Assembly in 1928, after the 19JJ election the Tolmie administration had only one supporter. To explain the causes of such a complete electoral reversal, it has been necessary to survey certain aspects of the formation of the provincial Conservative party and its early success under Richard McBride and to portray, in more detail, the party's internal struggles after 1916, culminating in the selection of Tolmie as provincial party leader in 1926. Following an analysis of the election vic­tory of 1928 and the government's first year in office, the thesis explain the effect of the Depression on the British Columbia government, the increasing party dissent and Tolmie' s attempt to solve both problems by means of a non-party Union government. The thesis conclude with an account of the final year of the Tolmie administration and Tolmie's futile efforts to avoid party and government collapse. This thesis argues that the disintegration of the British Columbia Conservative party under Tolmie was caused primarily by the basic l ack of unity within the party it­self. It is true that the Depression presented the admin­istration with a crisis which they were unequipped to re­solve. Tolmie's leadership was not sufficiently positive and his mistakes, primarily of omission, did nothing to relieve the situation. Nevertheless, the Conservative party chronic inability to unite on a policy or a par­ticular leader was the basic cause of the party collapse. United only by its desire for electoral victory, the party was unable to resolve its internal conflicts in the face of economic crisis. Tolmie with his limitations of intellect was not the man to restructure the party or remedy its inherent deficiencies. It is possible that no man under the prevailing conditions could have averted the disintegration of such a divisive coalition.en
dc.format.extent213 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19223
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleSimon Fraser Tolmie and the British Columbia Conservative Party, 1916-1933en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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