page_title: Herbert Greenfield
section_title: Premier
hierarchical_section_title: Herbert Greenfield / Premier
caption_attribution_description: English: The first United Farmers of Alberta legislative caucus. This was the meeting at which Herbert Greenfield was selected as Premier. On the right is Richard Reid, who chaired the meeting and who would later serve as Premier himself. On the left is Irene Parlby, Alberta's first female cabinet minister.
context_page_description: Herbert W. Greenfield was a Canadian politician who served as the fourth Premier of Alberta from 1921 until 1925. Born in Winchester, Hampshire, in England, he immigrated to Canada in his late twenties, settling first in Ontario and then in Alberta, where he farmed. He soon became involved in the United Farmers of Alberta, a farmers' lobby organization that was in the process of becoming a political party, and was elected as the organization's vice president. Greenfield did not run in the 1921 provincial election, the first provincial general election in which the UFA fielded candidates, but when the UFA won a majority in the Legislature in that election he was chosen by the UFA caucus to serve as Premier.
  Like most of the UFA caucus, Greenfield had no experience in government and he struggled in the position. He relied extensively on his Attorney General, John E. Brownlee, for counsel on policy and strategy. He was unable to control his caucus, which did not generally believe in party discipline, and his government almost lost several votes in the Legislature despite its majority.
context_section_description: Greenfield took office as Premier amid great expectations: the Lethbridge Herald called him "the only new Moses that can bridge the Red Sea", while the Calgary Herald noted that "No government ever went into office in this country carrying better wishes for its success".  He also took office without a seat in the legislature.  This latter circumstance was addressed through the voluntary resignation of Donald MacBeth Kennedy, who had won the riding of Peace River for the UFA.  Greenfield won the seat by acclamation December 9, 1921.
caption: The caucus meeting that selected Greenfield as Premier, summer 1921
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