Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell (born March 10, 1947) was the Prime Minister of Canada from June to November 1993. She was the last Prime Minister of the now defunct Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and came to power following the resignation of Brian Mulroney.

Though she was Canada's first female Prime Minister she was never elected to the office (she was appointed by the ruling Progressive Conservatives after Mulroney stepped down before the end of the party's mandate), and her government was unpopular. Campbell was even more moderate than Brian Mulroney, and many conservatives saw her rise as proof that the Progressive Conservative Party was moving further and further to the Left.

Campbell called an election in 1993, which saw her party go down to massive defeat. A key reason was that many conservative voters left the Progressive Conservative party and voted for the further right Reform Party of Canada, and their candidate for Prime Minister, Preston Manning. Though the Liberal Party of Canada was ultimately elected to power, Reform won 52 seats while the PC party declined to only two.

Campbell was then appointed as an emissary to California by new Prime Minister Jean Chretien. In retirement, Campbell has been critical of the Reform Party and Stephen Harper, whom she feels have moved Canada too far to the right.