Leader of The Opposition
The Liberals lost one seat in the legislature in the 1977 election, but nonetheless displaced the New Democratic Party as the Official Opposition to William Davis's Progressive Conservatives. Smith became Leader of the Opposition in the legislative sitting that followed.
As a politician, Smith had a reputation as an intelligent but dry and somewhat aloof personality, in a province that had grown accustomed to avuncular leaders. His criticism of government spending by the government of Premier Davis, and his pessimism about their election promises, prompted the Conservatives to nickname him Dr. No - a label which also referred to his background as a psychiatrist. He also had difficulty managing members of his caucus, many of whom supported right-wing positions on policy issues.
The Liberals made little progress in the 1981 election, returning again with 34 seats while the Tories regained a majority government. One of Smith's few successes was in the city of Toronto, where popular support for the Liberal Party increased under his leadership. He resigned as leader after the election, and left the legislature in January 1982, a month before the leadership convention that chose David Peterson as his successor.
Read more about this topic: Stuart Lyon Smith
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