Peter Dowding

Peter McCallum Dowding SC (born 6 October 1943) is an Australian lawyer and former politician who was the 24th Premier of Western Australia from 25 February 1988 until his resignation on 12 February 1990. He was a member of parliament from 1980 to 1990.

Dowding graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Laws, and he subsequently worked as a solicitor and barrister. In 1980, he was elected to the North Province of the Western Australian Legislative Council, representing the Labor Party. He entered the Burke Cabinet when Labor won the 1983 state election and changed ministries several times over the ensuing years due to cabinet reshuffles. At the 1986 state election, Dowding transferred to the Legislative Assembly, winning the safe seat of Maylands.

In December 1987, Premier Brian Burke announced that he would resign on 25 February 1988. Burke picked Dowding as his preferred replacement, with a secret opinion poll showing that he was the best candidate for the party to choose. After several other contenders dropped out of the contest, Dowding was voted in unanimously as the party's leader on 30 December. He was sworn in as the premier as scheduled on 25 February 1988.

Following controversy caused by WA Inc, Dowding became unpopular. On 12 February 1990, he resigned as premier and leader of the Labor Party ahead of almost certain defeat in a Labor Party leadership spill. He was replaced by Carmen Lawrence. Dowding soon resigned from parliament, and went back to practising law. The royal commission into WA Inc was scathing of Dowding, saying that he "presided over a disastrous series of decisions". Provided by Wikipedia