Cliff Matthews

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Albert Clifford Matthews was a Manitoba lawyer and politician. In 1961, he ran for the leadership of the province's newly-created New Democratic Party.

Matthews was born in Swan River Valley, Manitoba, and received a degree in law from the University of Manitoba. He first campaigned for national office in 1949, running for the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (predecessor to the NDP) in the riding of Portage-Neepawa. This was an area in which the CCF had little support, and Matthews placed a distant third. He was still a student during this campaign.

Matthews was later elected to the Dauphin school board, and ran for the provincial CCF in the elections of 1958 and 1959, in the riding of Dauphin. He lost both times, though his second-place finish on the latter occasion was a notable achievement for the party.

Matthews was considered an "outsider candidate" in the NDP leadership race of 1961. He had few ideological differences with victorious candidate Russell Paulley, who had previously served as leader of the CCF. Paulley was elected on the first ballot, defeating Matthews and Hans Fries. (See New Democratic Party of Manitoba leadership conventions.)

Matthews campaigned for the new party in the rural riding of Ethelbert Plains in the 1962 election, but placed a distant third. He returned to his law practice afterwards.

The University of Winnipeg currently offers an Albert Clifford Matthews Memorial Scholarship in Politics.