Grace McCarthy
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Grace McCarthy (born 1928) was a Canadian politician in British Columbia, nicknamed Amazing Grace by members of her party, and a longtime member of the Social Credit Party of B.C. She was largely responsible for rebuilding the party after its defeat in the 1972 provincial election.
She was a senior cabinet minister, serving in a variety of portfolios, in the governments of Social Credit premier W.R. Bennett from 1975 to 1986 and of Social Credit premier Bill Vander Zalm from 1986 until her resignation from cabinet in 1988. However in 1991 when Vander Zalm was forced to resign amid scandal allegations, the Social Credit party became bittery divided. Seeking to distance the party from Vander Zalm, Socred members voted the lesser-known Rita Johnston to be their new leader, over McCarthy. Johnston lost the 1991 provincial election badly, with the party only winning third-place status in the legislature. Johnston resigned as leader shortly thereafter, and McCarthy was chosen to replace her.
However, McCarthy had no seat in the legislature, and the Socreds were in danger of being dismissed as an increasingly irrelevant political force in British Columbia. She missed a chance to re-enter the legislature when she lost a close by-election in 1993. Subsequently, she stepped down as leader in 1994 amid further infighting. In the 1996 election the Socreds lost all their remaining seats.
In 1992 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.