Yukon Party
Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox political party Template:Conservatism Canada
The Yukon Party, formerly the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party, is a conservative political party in Yukon, Canada. It will be the governing party, with a majority in the Yukon Legislative Assembly.
History
The Yukon Progressive Conservative Party was founded in April 1978. Long time Yukon legislator Hilda Watson was elected as the party's first leader defeating Yukon MP Erik Nielsen by one vote.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Watson had been a member of the territorial Legislative Council since 1970, and became the first woman in Canadian history to lead a political party into a general election. However, she was unable to win a seat in the 1978 election, and consequently resigned. Chris Pearson then became the leader of the party and was able to get a position in the government.
The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1985 election by the Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Tony Penikett. With the increasing unpopularity of the Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative in the federal government, the Yukon Progressive Conservatives decided to sever their relations with the federal Conservatives. Later on, they renamed themselves the "Yukon Party" prior to the 1992 election.
The party's first leadership convention as the Yukon Party was held in June 1991 and won by Chris Young, a 21-year-old former president of the Yukon Progressive Conservatives' youth chapter.<ref>Jill Rutherford, "Dissidents should leave, youthful new Tory leader declares". Whitehorse Star, June 17, 1991.</ref> However, two Progressive Conservative MLAs, Bea Firth<ref>Jill Rutherford, "Bea Firth quits Tory caucus, party on her 'Independence Day'". Whitehorse Star, June 19, 1991.</ref> and Alan Nordling,<ref>Jill Rutherford, "Nordling rules out rejoining caucus". Whitehorse Star, June 20, 1991.</ref> quit the party within days of his victory, and formed the Independent Alliance Party.
By August, however, Young resigned as leader on the grounds that he felt the voters of Yukon were not prepared to support a party whose leader was so young and politically inexperienced,<ref>Jill Rutherford, "Tories leaderless again after Young resigns suddenly". Whitehorse Star, August 29, 1991.</ref> and John Ostashek was acclaimed as his successor in November after his sole challenger, Daniel Lang, dropped out of the race.<ref>"An abrupt acclamation". Whitehorse Star, November 22, 1991.</ref>
The Yukon Party won the 1992 election, and Ostashek became Premier of Yukon. He won only a minority government, and Nordling, Firth and Willard Phelps were all reelected as independents,<ref>"Independents hold key to new Yukon government". Edmonton Journal, October 21, 1992.</ref> but all three opted to support the Yukon Party on confidence and supply.<ref>"Yukon Party poised to win". Edmonton Journal, October 10, 1992.</ref> Ostashek's government became very unpopular by increasing taxes and cutting services. The party was defeated in the 1996 election by the NDP, winning only three seats and falling to third place for the first time behind the Yukon Liberal Party.
In the 1996 election, Nordling returned to the party; he was defeated as a Yukon Party candidate. Further, Firth retired from politics.
Since 2000
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The party's fortunes continued to decline at the 2000 general election. The Yukon Party was reduced to a single seat in the legislature as the right wing vote moved to the Yukon Liberal Party, putting the Liberals in power for the first time in the territory's history.
Liberal Premier Pat Duncan's government was plagued with internal dissent, however, and despite having won an outright majority of seats in the general election, defections and resignations reduced the Liberals to a minority government within two years. Premier Duncan called a snap election for 4 November 2002, in an effort to regain her majority, but the early election call backfired.
The Yukon Party had elected Dennis Fentie, a rural Member of the Yukon Legislative Assembly (MLA), who had defected from the Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP), as its new leader in June 2002. Despite being caught by surprise by the election call, the party was able to win a majority government with 12 seats compared to five for the NDP. The Liberals were reduced to a single seat. Fentie became the second Yukon Premier from a rural riding.
On 10 October 2006, the Yukon Party was re-elected, holding 10 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Yukon Liberals won five seats and the Yukon New Democrats won three.
The party was defeated in the 2016 Yukon general election and served as the Official Opposition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Currie Dixon led the party into the 2021 territorial election, the Yukon Party won 8 seats and won the popular vote overall. Dixon was personally elected in the district of Copperbelt North. On April 23, the incumbent Liberals were sworn in with a minority government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On April 28, the NDP announced that they had entered into a formal confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He led the party into the 2025 general election, where the party formed a majority government and received over 50 percent of the popular vote for the first time.
Leadership elections
Electoral performances
Leaders
- Hilda Watson – 1978
- Chris Pearson – 1978–1979 (interim), 1978–1985
- Willard Phelps – 1985–1991
- Chris Young – 1991
- John Ostashek – 1991–2000
- Peter Jenkins – 2000–2002 Template:Small
- Dennis Fentie – 2002–2011
- Darrell Pasloski – 2011–2016<ref>"Darrell Pasloski sworn in as Yukon premier". The Globe and Mail, June 11, 2016.</ref>
- Stacey Hassard - 2016–2020 Template:Small
- Currie Dixon – 2020–present
See also
References
External links
Template:Yukon Party Leaders Template:Yukon politics Template:Yukon territorial political parties Template:Canadian Conservative Parties