Robert Baldwin was not a natural politician. He was described as melancholy, and awkward in public. He gave speeches in a whispering, halting style. Although elected in 1830 as a member of the Legislative Assembly for the town of York in a by-election, he was defeated in the general election later that year. Despite this inauspicious start, his adherence to principle and his fearlessness in the face of Orange Order electoral violence won him the loyalty of voters in the post-Rebellion period.
Robert Baldwin was not a natural politician. He was described as melancholy, and awkward in public. He gave speeches in a whispering halting style. Although elected in 1830 as a member of the Legislative Assembly for the town of York in a by-election, he was defeated in the general election later that year. Despite this inauspicious start, his a,dherence to principle and his fearlessness in the face of Orange Order electoral violence won him the loyalty of voters in the post-Rebellion period.