W. Ross Thatcher

Rank:	10th
Term of Office:	2 May 1964– 30 June 1971
Predecessor:	Woodrow S. Lloyd
Successor:	Allan Blakeney
Date of Birth:	24 May 1917
Date of Death:	22 July 1971
Spouse:	Peggy Thatcher
Profession:	businessman, politician
Political Party:	Liberal

Thatcher was a Moose Jaw-based businessman who developed an interest in politics shortly after the birth of his son, Colin Thatcher, in 1938. He joined the Moose Jaw Young Liberal Association and was soon elected an alderman of the city. In 1941, he switched parties to the CCF and was elected to Parliament four years later.

Thatcher retired from national politics after a 12-year term, and in 1964 he was elected to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly as premier, this time as a Liberal. Despite the Liberal label Thatcher's government was considered to be very right wing for its time and Thatcher often clashed with the federal Liberal governments of Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau.

Thatcher's government was defeated by the NDP in the June 1971 election. On 22 July 1971, Thatcher died in his sleep, apparently as a result of complications from a heart condition. His daughter-in-law, JoAnne Thatcher, later claimed she suspected the death was a suicide, though this has never been formally substantiated.