| Election Name: | 1942 Progressive Conservative Party leadership election |
| Country: | Canada |
| Flag Year: | 1921 |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1938 National Conservative leadership convention |
| Previous Year: | 1938 |
| Next Election: | 1948 Progressive Conservative leadership convention |
| Next Year: | 1948 |
| Election Date: | December 9 – 11, 1942 |
| Candidate1: | John Bracken |
| 5Data1: | 538 (61.7%) |
| 6Data1: | 420 (48.3%) |
| Candidate2: | Murdoch Alexander MacPherson |
| 5Data2: | 255 (29.2%) |
| 6Data2: | 222 (25.5%) |
| Candidate3: | John Diefenbaker |
| 5Data3: | 79 (9.1%) |
| 6Data3: | 120 (13.8%) |
| Candidate4: | Howard Charles Green |
| 5Data4: | Withdrew |
| 6Data4: | 88 (10.1%) |
| Candidate5: | Henry Herbert Stevens |
| 5Data5: | Eliminated |
| 6Data5: | 20 (2.3%) |
| Leader | |
| Before Election: | Arthur Meighen |
| After Election: | John Bracken |
| Party: | Progressive Conservative |
| Year: | 1942 |
| Date: | December 9 – 11, 1942 |
| Winner: | John Bracken |
| Numcands: | 5 |
| Ballots: | 2 |
| Spendcap: | None |
The 1942 Progressive Conservative Party leadership election was held to choose a leader to replace Arthur Meighen for the newly named Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Meighen had led the Conservative Party from 1920 to 1926 serving two short terms as Prime Minister of Canada. He was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1932 by R. B. Bennett where he served as Leader of the Government in the Senate. The Conservatives were defeated in 1935 and passed through a succession of leaders without being able to improve their prospects. In 1941, the national conference of the Conservative Party voted unanimously in favour of Meighen becoming party leader without a leadership convention. Meighen resigned from the Senate and attempted to re-enter the House of Commons of Canada in a February 9, 1942 by-election in York South but was upset by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation's Joseph Noseworthy. Without a seat in the Commons, Meighen's leadership was greatly weakened. In September 1942 he called for a national party convention to broaden out the party's appeal and reportedly approached populist John Bracken, the longtime Liberal-Progressive Premier of Manitoba to seek the party's leadership. On the first day of the convention, Meighen confirmed in his keynote address that he would not be a candidate for the party's leadership.[1]
The convention occurred several months after the September 1942 Port Hope Conference. 150 Conservative activists at that conference called on the party to adopt progressive policies in order to broaden its electoral appeal., Many of these policies were adopted by the December convention. Prior to the leadership vote, the party decided to change its name to the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada as an indication of the shift in policies. These included support for veteran employment social security, farming, health, natural resources, a national labour relations board, and resources for soldiers.
Bracken fell only marginally short of winning outright on the first ballot, with MacPherson a distant second, and the other three candidates earning largely insignificant numbers of votes; Stevens, who finished last, was eliminated, with Green also withdrawing and endorsing Bracken. The second round saw a few of Diefenbaker's delegates switch their support to MacPherson in an attempt to stop Bracken, but it proved too little, too late, as Green's endorsement of Bracken put the latter over the line, giving him enough votes for victory.
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | |||
| BRACKEN, John | 420 | 48.3% | 538 | 61.7% | ||
| MACPHERSON, Murdoch Alexander | 222 | 25.5% | 255 | 29.2% | ||
| DIEFENBAKER, John George | 120 | 13.8% | 79 | 9.1% | ||
| GREEN, Howard Charles | 88 | 10.1% | Withdrew; endorsed Bracken | |||
| STEVENS, Henry Herbert | 20 | 2.3% | Eliminated; did not endorse | |||
| Total | 870 | 100.0% | 872 | 100.0% | ||