Leslie Peterson

Background He was born near Viking, Alberta, the son of Herman S. Peterson, a native of Norway. He completed first year at McGill University in Montreal, then continued his studies by correspondence, and attended the University of London while posted in England. Following the death of Vancouver Centre MLA George Churchill Moxham in 1955, Peterson contested the January 1956 by-election as a British Columbia Social Credit Party candidate. He defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Douglas Jung and others to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, representing the dual-member riding alongside Alexander Small Matthew.

Peterson was re-elected in the September 1956 provincial election, He stayed on as education minister after winning re-election in 1960,

After politics He resumed practising law in 1972 after losing re-election, then became a member of the Board of Governors of UBC in 1978, serving as chair from 1979 to 1983. and was also appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000. He died on April 14, 2015, at age 91.

Electoral record