Harry Strom
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| Hon. Harry Strom | |
 Harry Strom, painting by I. Kerr |
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| In office 1968 – 1971 |
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| Preceded by | Ernest Manning |
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| Succeeded by | Peter Lougheed |
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| Born | July 7, 1914 |
| Died | October 2, 1984 |
| Political party | Social Credit |
| Religion | evangelical Christian |
Harry Edwin Strom (July 7, 1914–October 2, 1984) was a Canadian politician of Swedish descent, who served as Premier of Alberta between 1968 and 1971. Born in Burdett, Alberta, he was the first premier who was born in the province. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta in the 1955 provincial election as a candidate of the Social Credit Party of Alberta. He served as Ernest C. Manning's Minister of Agriculture from 1962 to 1967. Strom was the last Social Credit premier of Alberta.
Strom became Premier and Social Credit leader in 1968, succeeding Manning who had just led the Socreds to their ninth consecutive term majority government in 1967. However, this election proved ominous for the party. Despite winning 55 of the 65 seats in the legislature, it won less than 45% of the popular vote. It previously won with more than half the popular vote. More importantly, the once-moribund Progressive Conservatives, led by young lawyer Peter Lougheed, won seven seats, mostly in Calgary and Edmonton.
Like his predecessors, Manning and William Aberhart, Strom was an evangelical Christian and social conservative. But after over three decades in office, the Social Credit Party had become tired and complacent. The rural-based party was slow to adapt to change, losing support in the increasingly influential urban areas to the Progressive Conservatives. The Tories bolstered their small caucus with two floor-crossings and two by-election wins, giving them significant momentum.
Social Credit's 36-year hold on power came to an end when it was defeated by Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives in the 1971 provincial election. Strom's Socreds saw their share of the popular vote decrease slightly but they lost a large number of seats, finishing with only 25.
Social Credit sank into near-paralysis in opposition. Its grassroots organization had atrophied over the years, and the party was ill-prepared for a role outside government after being the governing party for virtually all of its history prior to 1971. Strom remained as Leader of the Opposition until 1973. He retired from politics after the 1975 election, in which the Socred caucus was reduced to four seats -- just barely holding onto official party status. The party lost half of its popular vote from the 1971 election.
He died in Edmonton in 1984.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: James Underdahl |
MLA Cypress 1955-1975 |
Succeeded by: Alan Hyland |
| Preceded by: Ernest C. Manning |
Premier of Alberta 1968-1971 |
Succeeded by: Peter Lougheed |
| Premiers of Alberta |  |
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| Rutherford | Sifton | Stewart | Greenfield | Brownlee | Reid | Aberhart | Manning | Strom | Lougheed | Getty | Klein | Stelmach |
