Harry Worton

Who was Harry Worton?

Harry Worton was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1955 to 1985, as a member of the Liberal Party.

Worton was born in Guelph, Ontario, and was educated at Guelph Collegiate. He worked as a baker in the city. Worton was an alderman for Guelph in 1945, 1946, 1947, 1950 and 1951, and served as the city's mayor from 1952 to 1955.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1955 provincial election, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative William Hamilton by 1,968 votes in Wellington South. Worton's election occurred against the backdrop of a landslide victory by the Progressive Conservatives, and was a reflection of his personal popularity. He was re-elected in 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1977 and 1981, and all of his victories after from 1971 on were by landslide margins. Worton served his entire legislative career as an opposition member, and retired in 1985. Ironically, the Liberal Party was able to form a minority government after the 1985 election.

He served as the Liberal Party Whip for a time, and was known as a strong constituency worker. He supported Jim Breithaupt for the Liberal Party leadership in 1982. Worton never operated a constituency office, and often met with local voters in his private home. In 2003, a local paper noted that Worton almost never spoke in the legislature, but was strongly respected for his constituency service.