William Edward Payne

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William "Bill" Edward Payne is a former provincial level politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1979 to 1993.

[edit] Political career

Payne ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the 1979 Alberta general election. He won his first term defeating three other candidates with a landslide majority.^[1] Payne ran for a second term in office in the 1982 Alberta general election. He increased his majority finishing nearly 15,000 votes ahead of second place candidate Byron Chenger of the Western Canada Concept.^[2] After the election Payne was appointed Minister of Transportation by Premier Peter Lougheed. He held that cabinet portfolio for a single term.

Payne won his third term and loosing almost 10,000 votes from his 1982 total running in the 1986 Alberta general election. He still finished well ahead winning the district with a third consecutive landslide.^[3] He ran for his fourth and final term in the 1989 Alberta genera election. His popular vote dropped again as support for Liberal candidate Wayne Gillis surged finishing approximatly 1,500 votes behind Payne.^[4] He retired at dissolution of the Assembly in 1993.