John Manley politician: Encyclopedia II - John Manley politician - 2003 Liberal Leadership Race

John Manley politician - 2003 Liberal Leadership Race

When Jean Chrétien announced his decision to retire (largely as a result of attempts to oust him by former finance minister Paul Martin), Manley announced his intention to run for the Liberal leadership. His primary competition was Martin, although heritage minister Sheila Copps also ran, and Brian Tobin and Allan Rock briefly contemplated running. From the beginning, it was apparent that Martin had a significant head start on his rivals (he had been the heir apparent since his failed 1990 leadership bid, and Martin's record as Minister of Finance was impressive). Manley attempted to counteract this, largely by attacking Martin's refusal to disclose his campaign contributors. This tactic, however proved ineffectual, as Manley failed to make a significant dent in Martin's support, generally running at about 25% in polls. Seeing his inevitable defeat, he withdrew from the race on July 22, 2003 , conceding defeat to Martin and offering him his backing.

Upon Martin's land-slide victory on November 14, 2003 political commentators wondered whether someone so closely linked to Chrétien would avoid a potentially embarrassing demotion in Martin's new cabinet. On November 28th, Manley announced his retirement from politics.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "2003 Liberal Leadership Race", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki