Murdoch Mackay

Who was Murdoch Mackay?

Murdoch Mackay was a Manitoba politician. He led the Manitoba Liberal Party from 1931 to 1932, and brought the party into an alliance with John Bracken's Progressives.

Mackay was born in Boularderie, Nova Scotia, the son of John Mackay and Anna MacAulay. He subsequently moved to Manitoba, and was elected to the provincial legislature in the general election of 1927. A Liberal, Mackay defeated Progressive incumbent Clifford Barclay by 18 votes in the riding of Springfield.

The provincial Liberals fared poorly in this election, winning only seven seats in a 55-member legislature. Party leader Hugh Robson stepped down in 1930. After a brief period in which James Breakey led the parliamentary caucus, Mackay was chosen over Fred C. Hamilton as party leader in 1931.

MacKay brought the Manitoba Liberals into an alliance with the governing Progressives in 1932. By this time, the Liberals and Progressives of Manitoba were already co-operating at the federal level; national Liberal leader William Lyon Mackenzie King wanted the same alliance at the provincial level to prevent a Conservative victory in the next election. The Liberals joined the government in early 1932, and two members of the party were brought into cabinet. Mackay himself was made a Minister without Portfolio on May 27, 1932.