DOES CHANGING THE PARTY LEADER PROVIDE AN ELECTORAL BOOST - A STUDY OF CANADIAN PROVINCIAL PARTIES - 1960-1992

The long-standing centrality of party leaders to Canadian elections an d politics, and the use of televised extra-parliamentary conventions t o choose leaders, have led parties to believe that a new leader will p rovide them with an electoral boost at the subsequent election. This a rticle tests this perception using the record of 136 cases of leadersh ip change in Canadian provincial parties over the last three decades. The data allow the authors to consider the impact of divisive contests , the relevance of a party's competitive position, and the regional va riance on any leadership convention electoral boost. It concludes the conventional wisdom is wrong.