Preceded by George Smith Occupation lawyer and politician Political party Conservative | Constituency Red Deer Succeeded by Alfred Hooke Name William Payne | |
Died April 21, 1943(1943-04-21) (aged 64) | ||
William Ernest Payne (October 1, 1878 – April 21, 1943) was a lawyer and provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1931 to 1935 sitting with the Conservative caucus in opposition.
Contents
Early life
Payne moved to Red Deer, Alberta in 1902 and joined the law firm started by George Welling Greene. He worked as a lawyer in Red Deer for many years until he attempted to win a seat in the Alberta Legislature.
Political career
Payne ran as a candidate for the Conservatives in the 1926 Alberta general election in the Red Deer electoral district. He faced a hotly contested three way race against incumbent George Smith and former MLA John Gaetz. Payne was eliminated losing to Smith on the second vote count.
Payne ran for a second time in the 1930 Alberta general election. He would face Smith for the second time in a two way race. Payne came very close to winning, when the polls showed he was short by 88 votes.
Smited died in 1931 forcing a by-election that was held on November 16, 1931. Payne ran for office for his third time and won the hotly contested race defeating United Farmers candidate R.L. Gaetz by a couple hundred votes to pick up the district.
Payne ran for a second term in office in the 1935 Alberta general election but was defeated by Social Credit candidate Alfred Hooke who ended up winning in a landslide. Payne finished a distant fourth out of five candidates.
Family
Payne was the great grandson of Daniel Massey and father of William Hector Payne