Richard Gardiner Willis

Who was Richard Gardiner Willis?

Richard Gardiner Willis was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was the leader of the Manitoba Conservative Party from 1919 to 1922, and served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1922 until his death.

Born in Lombardy, Ontario, Willis was educated at Smiths Falls High School and the University of Toronto. He later moved to Manitoba, and worked as a farmer. In 1891, he married Ella French. Willis was reeve of the Rural Municipality of Morton and mayor of Boissevain. In 1915, he co-nominated James Albert Manning Aikins to become the new leader of the provincial Conservative Party.

Despite having little political experience, Willis was chosen leader of the Manitoba Conservatives on November 6, 1919, defeating future leader Major Fawcett Taylor. His victory was considered an upset, and can probably be credited to the increasingly strong presence of organized farmers in Manitoba. Some believe Conservative delegates were influenced by the recent election of Ernest Drury's United Farmers in Ontario.

The Conservative Party had governed Manitoba from 1900 to 1915, but was sidelined by the emergence of farmer and labour radicalism in the late 1910s.