Bennett, Richard Bedford, 1st Viscount Bennett

Bennett, Richard Bedford, 1st Viscount Bennett (b. 3 July 1870, d. 26 June 1947). Prime Minister of Canada 1930–5 Born at Hopewell Hill (New Brunswick), he studied law at Dalhousie and practised in Calgary. Elected to the Alberta legislature as a Conservative (Progressive Conservative Party) in 1909, he became an MP in 1911. Disappointed at not being appointed to the federal government by Borden, he stood down in the 1917 elections. He became Minister of Justice under Meighen in 1921, despite his failure to re-enter Parliament until 1925. A brilliant parliamentary speaker, he became leader of the Conservative Party in 1927. He won the general election of 1930 on a promise to overcome the Great Depression, but once in office was indecisive and unable to develop a coherent programme. He was instrumental in persuading the British to surrender their traditional policy of free trade and encouraging the system of Imperial Preference, which gave Canadian goods preferential tariffs in the UK. Apart from this, however, his actions were considered half-hearted and ineffective. Despite the announcement of proposed major social reforms in a Canadian ‘New Deal’ in 1935, he lost the elections of that year to Mackenzie King. He remained leader of the Conservative opposition until he retired to England in 1938, embittered by his continuing unpopularity at home.