She was reelected in 1986 in the newly-created riding of Surrey-Newton and became a cabinetminister under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, serving in various portfolios. She had previously served under Vander Zalm when she was a councilor and he was the mayor of Surrey.
Vander Zalm appointed Johnston deputy premier in 1990. When Vander Zalm resigned, on April 2, 1991, caucus selected her as interim leader over attorney generalRussell Fraser by a vote of 21–17. As such, she was appointed premier on April 2, 1991, making her Canada's first female first minister.[2]
Johnston waited as long as she could, finally calling an election for October. However, her long association with the scandal-plagued Vander Zalm hampered her chances of winning in her own right. Her party was also bitterly divided because of the leadership contest, and she had little time to repair the breach before the writs were dropped.
The Socreds were heavily defeated by New Democratic Party, led by Mike Harcourt. Moreover, many moderate Socreds switched their support to the previously moribund BC Liberals. The Socreds lost more than half of their popular vote from 1986 and were cut down to seven seats, falling to third place in the Legislative Assembly behind the NDP and Liberals.
Johnston herself lost her own seat to the NDP's Penny Priddy by over 10 points, and all but seven members of her cabinet were defeated. Harcourt later said that he preferred facing Johnston rather than McCarthy, believing McCarthy would have been a tougher opponent in a general election.
Johnston resigned as leader of the Social Credit Party on January 11, 1992 and was replaced by McCarthy. After her defeat, Johnston retired from politics and has had a low public profile.
rita, johnston, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, ta. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Rita Johnston news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Rita Margaret Johnston born April 22 1935 nee Leichert is a Canadian politician in British Columbia Johnston became the first female premier in Canadian history when she succeeded Bill Vander Zalm in 1991 to become the 29th premier of British Columbia serving for seven months Rita Margaret Johnston29th Premier of British ColumbiaIn office April 2 1991 November 5 1991MonarchElizabeth IILieutenant GovernorDavid LamPreceded byBill Vander ZalmSucceeded byMike HarcourtLeader of theBritish Columbia Social Credit PartyIn office April 2 1991 March 7 1992Preceded byBill Vander ZalmSucceeded byJack WeisgerberMinister of Municipal Affairs of British ColumbiaIn office August 14 1986 November 1 1989PremierBill Vander ZalmPreceded byJack HeinrichSucceeded byLyall HansonMinister of State Kootenay of British ColumbiaIn office October 22 1987 July 6 1988PremierBill Vander ZalmMinister of Transportation and Highways of British ColumbiaIn office November 1 1989 April 2 1991PremierBill Vander ZalmPreceded byNeil VantSucceeded byArt Charbonneau3rd Deputy Premier of British ColumbiaIn office August 10 1990 April 2 1991PremierBill Vander ZalmPreceded byGrace McCarthySucceeded byAnita HagenMember of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly for Surrey NewtonSurrey 1983 1986 In office May 5 1983 October 17 1991Serving with William Earl Reid 1983 1986 Preceded byBill Vander ZalmErnest HallSucceeded byPenny PriddyPersonal detailsBornRita Margaret Leichert 1935 04 22 April 22 1935 age 88 Melville SaskatchewanPolitical partySocial Credit Party 1983 BC Conservative c 2009 present SpouseGeorge Johnston m 1951 wbr The daughter of John Leichert and Annie Chyzzy she was educated in Vancouver In 1951 she married George Johnston 1 Much of her early life was spent running a trailer park in the city of Surrey British Columbia Political career editMain article Johnston ministry Johnston first entered politics as a city councillor in Surrey In 1983 she was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as part of the Social Credit Party representing the provincial riding of Surrey She was reelected in 1986 in the newly created riding of Surrey Newton and became a cabinet minister under Premier Bill Vander Zalm serving in various portfolios She had previously served under Vander Zalm when she was a councilor and he was the mayor of Surrey Vander Zalm appointed Johnston deputy premier in 1990 When Vander Zalm resigned on April 2 1991 caucus selected her as interim leader over attorney general Russell Fraser by a vote of 21 17 As such she was appointed premier on April 2 1991 making her Canada s first female first minister 2 At a Social Credit party convention in July 1991 she was formally elected leader of the Socreds in an upset narrowly defeating the frontrunner Grace McCarthy 3 However she had little time to implement any new programs since she faced a statutory general election later that year Johnston waited as long as she could finally calling an election for October However her long association with the scandal plagued Vander Zalm hampered her chances of winning in her own right Her party was also bitterly divided because of the leadership contest and she had little time to repair the breach before the writs were dropped The Socreds were heavily defeated by New Democratic Party led by Mike Harcourt Moreover many moderate Socreds switched their support to the previously moribund BC Liberals The Socreds lost more than half of their popular vote from 1986 and were cut down to seven seats falling to third place in the Legislative Assembly behind the NDP and Liberals Johnston herself lost her own seat to the NDP s Penny Priddy by over 10 points and all but seven members of her cabinet were defeated Harcourt later said that he preferred facing Johnston rather than McCarthy believing McCarthy would have been a tougher opponent in a general election Johnston resigned as leader of the Social Credit Party on January 11 1992 and was replaced by McCarthy After her defeat Johnston retired from politics and has had a low public profile She returned to public life in 2009 as an advisor for the British Columbia Conservative Party References editbiography at collections canada Normandin P G 1986 Canadian Parliamentary Guide 1986 Baldrey Keith Hunter Justine Hogben David Jeff Lee 1991 04 03 Vander Zalm loyalist first woman premier Vancouver Sun pp A1 A2 It s Rita The Province 1991 07 21 pp A1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rita Johnston amp oldid 1159000782, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
