Elmore Philpott

Who was Elmore Philpott?

Elmore Philpott was a Canadian politician and journalist. Philpott joined the Canadian military during World War I and was badly wounded - he needed two canes to help him walk for the rest of his life.

He was working as an editorial writer for the Toronto Globe when he ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in its 1930 leadership convention. He lost badly to Mitchell Hepburn. The next year, he attempted to become a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario through a by-election, but was defeated.

In 1933, Philpott resigned from the Globe to join the new Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and was asked to lead a campaign organizing Clubs for the Ontario CCF. The CCF in Ontario was organized into three sections at the time: the United Farmers of Ontario, the Labour Conference made up of socialist and labour groups, and the CCF Clubs. Philpott became the president of the Ontario Association of CCF Clubs, one of the key leaders of the party in the province, and a popular stump speaker for the socialist cause.

After twenty months of intense work in the party, including leading a purge of communists, Philpott suddenly resigned from the CCF in March 1935, ostensibly because he was a UFO candidate in the upcoming provincial election and the UFO had resigned from the Ontario CCF over the purported influence of Communists. A few months later, he announced he was rejoining the Liberal Party of Canada and was the Liberal candidate in the riding of York South in the 1935 election. He placed third behind the Conservative and CCF candidates.