James Hartley

James Hartley (November 10, 1888 – October 11, 1970) was a provincial politician from Alberta, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1935 to 1967 sitting with the Social Credit caucus in government. During his time in office Hartley served as a cabinet minister in the government of Premier Ernest Manning from 1955 to 1962. Political career Hartley ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in the 1935 Alberta general election. He ran as a Social Credit candidate in the electoral district of Macleod. Hartley won the three-way race with a landslide majority easily defeating United Farmers incumbent William Shield to pick up the seat for his party. The 1940 Alberta general election would see Hartley nearly be defeated by Independent candidate G.B. Walker in a hotly contested two-way race. Hartley hung on to his seat by just 41 votes to return to office. Hartley ran for his third term in office in the 1944 Alberta general election. He was returned to office as he held his vote from 1940. The three opposition candidates split the vote allowing for Hartley to win easily.