Larry Duchesne (born 1949) is a Canadian politician, who was leader of the Prince Edward Island New Democratic Party from 1991 to 1995.

Larry Duchesne
Leader of the New Democratic Party of Prince Edward Island
In office
1991–1995
Preceded byDody Crane (interim)
Succeeded byHerb Dickieson
Personal details
Born (1949-03-23) March 23, 1949 (age 75)[1]
Political partyNew Democratic Party
Professionteacher

A teacher and former journalist from Kinkora, Prince Edward Island, he won the party leadership on February 3, 1991, over Mike Leclair and Judy Whittaker.[2] He had previously been a candidate for the party in provincial elections in both Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

He led the party into the 1993 election,[3] and was the party's assemblyman candidate in 4th Prince, but won no seats on election day.[4] Following the election loss, he took a three-month unpaid leave of absence from his position as leader, so that he could collect unemployment benefits and thus save the party money through not having to pay his leader's salary.[5]

He resigned as party leader in November 1994,[6] and was succeeded in 1995 by Herb Dickieson.[7]

He ran as the party's candidate in the new district of Parkdale-Belvedere in the 1996 election, but was again not elected to the legislature. In the 1997 federal election, he ran in the district of Cardigan,[8] but did not win the seat.

Duchesne was the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party candidate in Cumberland South for the 2013 Nova Scotia provincial election,[9] but was defeated by Progressive Conservative leader Jamie Baillie.[10] In February 2017, Duchesne was again nominated as Cumberland South's NDP candidate for the next Nova Scotia general election.[11]

Electoral record

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2021 Nova Scotia general election: Cumberland South
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Progressive Conservative Tory Rushton 3,900 68.47 +9.28 $29,144.30
Liberal Rollie Lawless 1,092 19.17 -12.51 $22,771.07
New Democratic Larry Duchesne 524 9.20 +4.14 $1,495.12
Green Nicholas Hendren 180 3.16 -0.91 $200.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit 5,696 99.46 $66,923.01
Total rejected ballots 31 0.54
Turnout 5,727 52.12
Eligible voters 10,989
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +10.90
Source: Elections Nova Scotia[12]
1997 Canadian federal election: Cardigan
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Lawrence MacAulay 7,555 45.05 -16.59
Progressive Conservative Dan Hughes 7,456 44.46 +11.79
New Democratic Larry Duchesne 1,761 10.50 +4.81
Total valid votes 16,772 100.00

References

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  1. ^ "Soggy election fervor fails to ignite". Vancouver Sun, March 22, 1993.
  2. ^ "Teacher elected leader of P.E.I.'s New Democrats". Toronto Star, February 4, 1991.
  3. ^ "P.E.I. voters will head to the polls on March 29". Toronto Star, March 2, 1993.
  4. ^ "Callbeck wins big in P.E.I. election". Windsor Star, March 30, 1993.
  5. ^ "NDP leader quitting post briefly to collect UI". Vancouver Sun, June 9, 1993.
  6. ^ "NDP leader quits in P.E.I." Montreal Gazette, November 7, 1994.
  7. ^ "Prince Edward Island New NDP leader selected". The Globe and Mail, March 14, 1995.
  8. ^ "Cardigan New Democrats field Larry Duchesne". The Guardian, May 8, 1997.
  9. ^ "Teacher gets NDP nod in Cumberland South". The Chronicle Herald. August 28, 2013. Archived from the original on May 9, 2017. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  10. ^ "PC leader Jamie Baillie takes his Cumberland South riding". Global News. October 8, 2013. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  11. ^ "Duchesne to represent NDP in Cumberland South". Cumberland News Now. February 1, 2017. Archived from the original on February 11, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  12. ^ "Provincial General Election 2021-08-17- Official Results". Elections Nova Scotia. Archived from the original on 2021-10-07. Retrieved October 7, 2021.