Leadership Campaign
When Robarts retired, Welch ran to succeed him in the 1971 Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership convention. He was often depicted as a "consensus candidate", and was criticized for not debating policy issues. His campaign organization was initially weak, but received an unexpected boost from four of Robarts' senior advisors. Some have speculated that Robarts only intended to give Welch's campaign the appearance of strength, such that frontrunner Bill Davis would not appear to win the leadership by default (Jonathan Manthorpe, The Power and the Tories, p. 100). Welch proved a likeable figure and a good speaker, and built a base of delegate support at the expense of rival candidate Darcy McKeough.
He finished fourth on the first ballot (three votes behind McKeough), and was eliminated after the second. Despite rumours that he would support McKeough, he remained neutral after his elimination and released his delegates. Davis was elected on the fourth ballot, defeating upstart candidate Allan Lawrence by 44 votes.
Read more about this topic: Bob Welch (politician)
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