Errick Willis

Errick French Willis (March 21, 1896 – January 9, 1967) was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as leader of the province's Conservative Party between 1936 and 1954, and was responsible for beginning and ending the party's alliance with the Liberal-Progressive Party. He also served as Manitoba's 15th Lieutenant Governor between 1960 and 1965.Willis was born in Boissevain, Manitoba. He was the son of R.G. Willis, himself the leader of the Conservative Party from 1919 to 1920.The younger Willis received a BA from the University of Toronto, an MA from the University of Manitoba and an LL.B from the University of Manitoba. He subsequently worked as a barrister and farmer, and was involved in local masonic organizations. Willis married Louise Isabel Trimble Willis.Willis began his political career at the federal level. He was a Conservative, but used the label "Progressive-Conservative" in Souris in the election of 1926, and was defeated by a straight Progressive candidate. He won the riding in the 1930 election, again having contested it as a "Progressive-Conservative" and served for five years as a backbench supporter of R.B. Bennett's Conservative government. In 1932, outside politics, Willis was a member of the Canadian curling team that won a gold medal in the curling event at the 1932 Winter Olympics.He was defeated in the 1935 election, losing by three votes to the Liberal candidate. Willis was acclaimed as leader of the provincial Conservative Party on June 9, 1936, replacing W. Sanford Evans. He was elected for the riding of Deloraine in a provincial election held later in the year.The election of 1936 was very close, with John Bracken's Liberal-Progressives winning 23 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and Willis's Conservatives winning 16. Another 16 seats were won by smaller parties. There were rumours of a Bracken-Willis coalition after the election, but this plan was rejected by the Conservative leader.After the start of World War II, the