thumb|left|St. Laurent shaking hands with supporters during the 1949 election campaign St. Laurent's first mission was to give the Liberals a new mandate. In the 1949 federal election that followed his ascension to the Liberal leadership, many wondered, including Liberal Party insiders, if St. Laurent would appeal to the post-war populace of Canada. On the campaign trail, St. Laurent's image was developed into somewhat of a 'character' and what is considered to be the first 'media image' to be used in Canadian politics. St. Laurent chatted with children, gave speeches in his shirt sleeves, and had a 'common touch' that turned out to be appealing to voters. At one event during the 1949 election campaign, he disembarked his train and instead of approaching the assembled crowd of adults and reporters, gravitated to, and began chatting with, a group of children on the platform. A reporter submitted an article entitled "Uncle Louis can't lose!" which earned him the nickname "Uncle Louis" in the media ("Papa Louis" in Quebec). With this common touch and broad appeal, he led the party to victory in the election against the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) led by George Drew. The Liberals won 191 seats – the most in Canadian history at the time, and still a record for the party. This is also the Liberals' second-most successful result in their history in terms of proportion of seats, behind the 1940 federal election.
thumb|left|St. Laurent shaking hands with supporters during the 1949 election campaign St. Laurent's first mission was to give the Liberals a new mandate. In the 1949 federal election that followed his ascension to the Liberal leadership, many wondered, including Liberal Party insiders, if St. Laurent would appeal to the post-war populace of Canada. On the campaign trail, St. Laurent's image was developed into somewhat of a 'character' and what is considered to be the first 'media image' to be used in Canadian politics. St. Laurent chatted with children, gave speeches in his shirt sleeves, and had a 'common touch' that turned out to be appealing to voters. At one event during the 1949 election campaign, he disembarked his train and instead of approaching the assembled crowd of adults and reporters, gravitated to, and began chatting with, a group of children on the platform. A reporter submitted an article entitled "Uncle Louis can't lose!" which earned him the nickname "Uncle Louis" in the media ("Papa Louis" in Quebec). With this common touch and broad appeal, he led the party to victory in the election against the Progressive Conservative Party (PC Party) led by George Drew. The Liberals won 191 seats – the most in Canadian history at the time, and still a record for the party. This is also the Liberals' second-most successful result in their history in terms of proportion of seats behind the 1940 federal election.