Joe Clark - Opposition Leader 1980-83

Opposition Leader 1980-83

Opposition to Clark's leadership began to grow after the fall of the PC minority government, and the party's defeat by a resurgent Liberal Party. There were frequent rumors that several potential challengers were covertly undermining Clark's leadership; though in 1982 Brian Mulroney appeared at a press conference with Clark to say that he was not seeking the leadership of the PC party.

The Liberal Party had regained national prominence by leading the "No" side to victory in the 1980 Quebec referendum and the Constitution patriation. While Trudeau's National Energy Program was hugely unpopular in Western Canada, especially Alberta, it was able to shore up Liberal support in the voter-rich Eastern Canada, particularly Ontario and Quebec, generally having the opposite effect of Clark's proposed gas tax. Difficult budgets and the economic recession resulted in Trudeau's approval ratings declining after the bounce from the 1982 Constitution patriation and showed his party headed for certain defeat by early 1984, prompting him to retire. However, Clark was unable to stay on as Progressive Conservative leader long enough to regain the Prime Ministership.

At the party's 1981 convention, 33.5% of the delegates supported a leadership review; they felt that Clark would not be able to lead the party to victory again. At the January 1983 convention in Winnipeg, 33.1% supported a review. The fact that Clark had been able to increase his support among party members by only 0.4% was likely a contributing factor to his decision to resign as leader and seek a renewed mandate from the membership through a leadership convention. This was also considering that the governing Liberals under Pierre Trudeau were slipping in polls, and although the PCs had built up a substantial lead in popularity, Trudeau was expected to retire before the election and a new Liberal leader might be able to pull off a victory.