ABSTRACT
On 11 June 1983, Brian Mulroney, a corporate lawyer and executive from Montreal, was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada – one of the two major Canadian political parties at the time – despite having never sat a day in parliament or held any other elected office. Having become leader of a national political party, he immediately ran for the House of Commons in a constituency vacated by a loyal supporter. His party won the 1984 general election and he became prime minister, a position he held until 1993. He then resigned as party leader and from political life entirely, having not sat one day in parliament as anything less than a party leader.
