The Party Under Elwin Hermanson
Shortly after taking the leadership, Hermanson led the party into the 1999 provincial election. The party had a strong showing, retaking many rural ridings from the NDP. In the process, they won 25 seats and reduced the NDP to a minority government.
During the 2003 provincial election, the Saskatchewan Party campaigned on a platform of tax reduction and decreased government involvement in the private sector. The party won 28 seats, while the NDP won 30 seats. The party was accused of having undisclosed plans to privatize all of the province's crown corporations. Hermanson stated he would not sell the four major crown corporations, but would consider any offers received. The NDP used the ambiguity in the Saskatchewan Party's position to turn the election into a referendum on crown corporation ownership for many voters, and managed to narrowly win a majority government. Hermanson resigned as leader shortly afterward. He outlined his reason as stating he had taken the party as far as he could, and that it was time to hand it down to a new leader who could take it further.
Read more about this topic: Saskatchewan Party
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“This will not be disloyalty but will show that as members of a party they are loyal first to the fine things for which the party stands and when it rejects those things or forgets the legitimate objects for which parties exist, then as a party it cannot command the honest loyalty of its members.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)