Leader of the Opposition (Ontario)

The Leader of the Opposition in Ontario is usually leader of the largest party in the Ontario legislature which is not the government. The current official opposition is formed by the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and John Tory is the current Leader of the Opposition.

Ontario's first Leader of the Opposition was Edward Blake of the Ontario Liberal Party who held the position from 1869 until 1871 when he became Premier of Ontario (Archibald McKellar had previously led the Liberal Party in the legislature for two years, but was not formally recognized as opposition leader).

*Archibald McKellar (Liberal) 1867-1869 was not formally recognized as opposition leader, but led the Liberal Party in the legislature.

¹The Liberals were recognized as the Official Opposition following the 1923 election by the governing Conservatives, despite the fact that the United Farmers of Ontario had more seats. According to historian Peter Oliver, this was an arbitrary decision without basis in precedent or law. Conservative Premier G. Howard Ferguson used as justification an announcement by UFO general secretary James J. Morrison that the UFO would be withdrawing from party politics, though Oliver argues that this was facetious logic. UFO parliamentary leader Manning Doherty protested the decision, but to no avail. (source: Peter Oliver, "G. Howard Ferguson: Ontario Tory", (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977), p. 158.

²From 1930, the Liberal Party was led by Mitchell Hepburn, but Sinclair continued as Leader of the Opposition as Hepburn did not seek a seat in the legislature until the 1934 general election which made him Premier.

³ Until 1954, the Liberals were led from outside the legislature by Walter Thomson with Oliver as acting Leader of the Opposition. Oliver led the party in his own right (for a second time) from 1954 until 1958.

⁴ Interim Leader of the Opposition following the personal defeat of Wintermeyer in the 1963 provincial election until Thompson's election as leader.

⁵ Interim leader of the party and Opposition following the resignation of Stuart Smith.

⁶ Interim leader of the party and Opposition following the personal defeat of Premier David Peterson in the 1990 election.

⁷ Elston became interim leader when Nixon from the legislature to accept a federal appointment. Elston stepped down in November when he decided to be a candidate at the Liberal leadership convention.

⁸ Interim leader between resignation of Elston and election of McLeod.

⁹ John Tory was chosen as leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party on September 18, 2004, but did not hold a seat in the legislature. On September 28 the party announced that Bob Runciman would act as interim Leader of the Opposition until Tory enters the legislature. Tory was elected to represent Dufferin--Peel--Wellington--Grey on March 17, 2005 and was sworn in as an MPP and leader of the opposition on March 29, 2005.

¹⁰ As John Tory did not win a seat in Don Valley West in the 2007 election, he appointed Runciman as interim Leader of the Opposition. It is currently unknown if Tory will seek a seat in the legislature.