Andrew Scheer elected as federal Conservative Party leader

By THE CANADIAN PRESS, NEWS STAFF

TORONTO, ON. – After weeks of campaigning and a lot of speculation, the Tories have a new party boss.

Saskatchewan MP Andrew Scheer is the new leader of the Conservative Party, beating out 13 rivals. Scheer is a former Speaker of the House of Commons.

The 38-year-old wins with 51 per cent of the available points, edging out longtime front-runner Maxime Bernier. The Quebec MP had led throughout the previous 12 ballots.

It was suspected to be a cakewalk to the federal Conservative leadership for Maxime Bernier.

Gone from the race after seven ballots were Deepak Obhrai, Andrew Saxton, Rick Peterson, Kevin O’Leary, Chris Alexander, Steven Blaney and Lisa Raitt.

Bernier was still in first place with 30.51 per cent of the points, followed by Scheer at 22.97 per cent, Erin O’Toole at 11.32 per cent and Brad Trost with 8.47 per cent.

Obhrai was the first of 13 candidates to drop off the ballot as the party begins disclosing the results of voting, which began weeks ago by mail and culminated Friday with members voting in person at the Toronto Congress Centre and polling stations across the country.

O’Leary dropped out of the race abruptly last month but was too late to have his name removed from the ballot.

The lengthy ranked-ballot system and the size of the field means several rounds of balloting are expected to take place before a winner is finally crowned.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today