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Who is the Eldest of Them All?

Posted by Daniel on May 15, 2010

Premier Gordon Campbell was playing cat-and-mouse with the media this week about whether he intended to stick around for another election. It looks like his answer was "yes", though it may have been "maybe".

The Premier mentioned that by 2013, the date of the election, he would be 65 years old, which got me wondering who the oldest BC premier has been. Surely not a 65-year-old; by modern standards, that is mere middle age!

Looking back, it turns out that there have been seven other 60-somethings who filled the premier's chair. But the oldest? That would be W.A.C. Bennett, who was a venerable 72 when his government was defeated by the NDP in 1972. To surpass that milestone, Mr. Campbell would have to serve not one but two more terms after the present one.

Our youngest premier, in case you were wondering, was Richard McBride, 32 years old when he took over the job in 1903. He was also the first premier born in the province and remains the only one to be knighted.

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Labels: HISTORY, POLITICS
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