John Lorne Connors (born 1944 or 1945) is a Canadian educator and former politician who was leader of the

Newfoundland New Democratic Party The Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) is a social democratic political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in 1961 as the successor to ...

from 1970 to 1974. Connors was elected party leader in 1970 and was a 26-year-old schoolteacher from

Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the 2021 census. The town is the largest in the central region, the s ...

when he led the party into the 1971 Newfoundland general election. The party had never won a seat in an election and Connors hoped to win three seats and hold the balance of power in what was expected to be a close election between long-time premier

Joey Smallwood Joseph Roberts Smallwood (December 24, 1900 – December 17, 1991) was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of ...

's incumbent Liberals and

Frank Moores Frank Duff Moores (February 18, 1933 – July 10, 2005) served as the second premier of Newfoundland as leader of the Progressive Conservatives from 1972 until his retirement in 1979. Moores was also a successful businessman in both the fis ...

' Progressive Conservatives. Connors was the youngest party leader in Canada at the time and had previously run for the federal

New Democrats New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United State ...

St. John's West St. John's West could refer to: * St. John's West (federal electoral district) * St. John's West (provincial electoral district) {{Disambiguation ...

in the

1968 Canadian federal election The 1968 Canadian federal election was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 28th Canadian Parliament, 28th Parliament of Canada. In April 1968, Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Lester Pearson o ...

. In the 1971 provincial election, he ran in Grand Falls against education minister Frederick William Rowe. While the election results between the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives were close, with the Conservatives winning 21 seats and the Liberals 20 in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

, the NDP was again shut out electing none of its 17 candidates, with Connors losing in Grand Falls to the Conservative candidate. Overall, the NDP won 3,719 votes. Months later, a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Snap elections in parliamentary systems are often called to resolve a political impasse such as a hung parliament where no single political party has a ma ...

was called by the new Conservative premier. In the March

1972 Newfoundland general election Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

the NDP stood only five candidates and won only 410 votes, with Connors only winning 200 votes in the riding he contested. Nevertheless, Connors was re-elected as NDP leader at the party's November 1972 bi-annual convention, defeating a challenge by Edgar Russell. However, he was replaced as leader in 1974 by

Gerald Panting Gerald (Gerry) Ernest Panting (May 17, 1927 —December 3, 1998) was a Memorial University of Newfoundland professor specializing in maritime history, and leader of the Newfoundland NDP from 1974 to 1977. Panting was the longtime head of the depa ...

. After leaving politics, Connors joined

Memorial University Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

working for 26 years at the university's Fisheries and Marine Institute in senior management positions including a term as Head of the School of Maritime Studies.https://cci-newfoundland.ca/sites/default/uploads/files/CCI-NL-Newsletter-Summer2017-0727-emailWeb.pdf

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connors, John Leaders of the Newfoundland and Labrador CCF/NDP Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Academic staff of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador candidates for Member of Parliament Candidates in the 1968 Canadian federal election New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons