If a federal party wins a majority in a general election, but its leader does not win his or her seat, does the leader still become prime minister?
The party leader could become prime minister if the Governor General agrees to that happening, but would not be allowed onto the floor of the House of Commons because he or she is not a member of Parliament. That leader would likely ask one of the victorious MPs from the party to resign and create a vacancy so that the leader could run for that seat in a byelection as soon as possible. Interestingly, the office of prime minister was not described or created in any Canadian legislation, though it has been recognized and referred to in legislation after the fact. So what happens in this kind of case has been determined by custom, not any regulation or law. And custom has determined that the Canadian prime minister does not have to be an MP in order to assume the title. Two Conservative prime ministers have been Senators who held cabinet posts before being asked to take over upon the death of the serving prime minister: John Abbott, who was PM from 1891 to 1892 after the death in office o
