Hugh McGavin

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Dr. Hugh James McGavin (November 14, 1874—1958) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1927 to 1932, as a member of the Conservative Party.

McGavin was born in Paisley, Ontario, son of James McGavin, saddler born in Catrine, Ayrshire, Scotland and Elizabeth Wright and educated in Manitoba. He received a medical degree from the Manitoba Medical College, and practised as a general physician. McGavin was appointed a health officer in 1903, with a stipend of $40 per annum.

He first sought election to the Manitoba legislature in the 1910 provincial election, but lost to Liberal Valentine Winkler by 133 votes in the constituency of Rhineland. When he next ran in the 1927 election, he defeated Progressive candidate J.H. Black by 120 votes in Morden and Rhineland. (Black actually won a plurality of votes on the first count, but was defeated on transfers from the third-place candidate. Manitoba elections were determined by a single transferable ballot in this period.)

The Conservatives formed the official opposition in Manitoba after the 1927 election, and McGavin served as an opposition member for the next five years. In the 1932 campaign, he lost to Liberal-Progressive candidate Cornelius Wiebe by 447 votes.