Cleophas (Cle) Newhook (June 3, 1943 – March 2, 2018) was a Canadian theologian, author and politician in Newfoundland. Newhook was leader of the

Newfoundland and Labrador 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 1989 to 1992. However, he was unsuccessful in several attempts to win a seat for himself in the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

. Prior to becoming party leader he was the NDP's executive secretary as well as a candidate. He became leader by defeating MHA

Gene Long Gene Long (born 1957) is a former politician in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. He was elected in 1986 as the New Democratic Party member of the House of Assembly for the riding of St. John's East. Long ran for the party leadership in Marc ...

by a margin of 126 votes to 105 in the party's first-ever leadership convention in 1989.Ward, Stephen, "New leader hopes to improve Newfoundland NDP's fortunes," ''Globe and Mail'', March 20, 1989 A provincial election was held several weeks after Newhook became leader. In this election, the party lost its two seat in the face of a Liberal surge that saw NDP support drop 10 points, which moved to the Liberals; this allowed the Liberals led by Clyde Wells to defeat the Conservative government. In 1990, while Newhook was leader, the NDP regained a seat in the House when Jack Harris won a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

victory in St. John's East. Newhook attempted to win a seat for himself in a 1991 by-election in Trinity North but was unsuccessful despite a strong showing. In his fifth attempt to win a seat, a 1992 by-election in

Ferryland Ferryland is a town in Newfoundland and Labrador on the Avalon Peninsula. According to the 2021 Statistics Canada census, its population is 371. Seventeenth century settlement Ferryland was originally established as a station for migratory fi ...

, he came in third. A month later, Newhook announced that he would step down as NDP leader; he was succeeded by MHA Jack Harris. Outside of his political career, he was a university administrator as co-ordinator of student services at

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 ...

as well as the university's

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

. He was best known for being the director of the

Ocean Ranger ''Ocean Ranger'' was a semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit that sank in Canadian waters on 15 February 1982. It was drilling an exploration well on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, east of St. John's, Newfoundland, for Mobil Oil o ...

Families Foundation, a non-profit foundation established after the 1982 oil rig disaster that killed 84 men. The foundation organized the victims' families so that they could be represented at a public inquiry and lobbied for legislative changes to prevent future oil rig disastersYaffe, Barbara, "Peckford PCs likely winners in by-elections," ''Globe and Mail'', December 5, 1986 Newhook studied theology at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He spent five years as an Anglican priest in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he directed community educational and development programs in

inner cities Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

; he was chair of the British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centre.Cle Newhook (biography)
2006 Electoral Districts Boundary Commission, Newfoundland and Labrador, accessed February 18, 2008. Newhook was also a marketing consultant and the director of Landscape Newfoundland and Labrador. He served on the provincial Electoral Districts Boundary Commission in 2006. In the 1989 federal NDP leadership convention Newhook backed

Audrey McLaughlin Audrey Marlene McLaughlin (name at birth, née Brown; born November 8, 1936) is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party (Canada), New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a politica ...

's campaign. Newhook died on March 2, 2018, due to a short bout with cancer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newhook, Cle 1943 births 2018 deaths Newfoundland and Labrador religious leaders Canadian Anglican priests Leaders of the Newfoundland and Labrador CCF/NDP Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party MHAs Candidates in Newfoundland and Labrador provincial elections Deaths from cancer in Newfoundland and Labrador 20th-century members of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly