Barrett, Dave, 1930-

David Barrett led the New Democratic Party of British Columbia to victory in 1972 becoming the first NDP Premier in B.C. Born in Vancouver in 1930, he graduated from Britannia High School in 1948, received a Bachelor of Arts from Seattle University in 1953 and a Master of Social Work from St. Louis University in 1956. In 1960, Barrett joined the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and was elected as leader of the NDP of B.C. in 1970. After the NDP were defeated in 1975, Barrett stayed on as leader until 1983. He retired from the legislature in 1984, signing a contract with radio station CJOR to do his own radio show. He left CJOR in 1987 to become involved in a number of activities such as writing an autobiography, and lecturing at universities such as Harvard and McGill. He returned to politics in 1988 when he was elected MP for the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca district. He remained an MP until 1993 when he ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the NDP, after which he retired from political life.