The Conservative Party of Canada, colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance, the latter being the successor of the Western Canadian-based Reform Party. The party sits at the centre-right to the right of the Canadian political spectrum, with their federal rival, the Liberal Party of Canada, positioned to their left. The Conservatives are defined as a "big tent" party, practising "brokerage politics" and welcoming a broad variety of members, including "Red Tories" and "Blue Tories".
Paul Hinman is a Canadian politician and businessman. He is the former leader of the Wildrose Independence Party of Alberta since 2020 and was formerly the leader of the Wildrose Alliance (2008–2009) and Alberta Alliance Party (2005–2008). He served two terms as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, initially from 2004 to 2008 representing the electoral district of Cardston-Taber-Warner and then from 2009 to 2012 in Calgary-Glenmore.
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Melvyn John Stride is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since October 2022. He previously served in the May Government as Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General from 2017 to 2019 and as Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council from May to July 2019. He also served as Chair of the Treasury Select Committee from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Devon since 2010.
Gareth Alan Johnson is a British politician and former lawyer who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Courts from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he previously served as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from February to September 2022 and Assistant Government Whip from 2018 to 2019 and 2021 to 2022. Johnson was first elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dartford, winning the seat from Labour. He has been supportive of Leave Means Leave, a Eurosceptic pressure group.
In Canadian politics, a leadership review is a vote held at a political party convention in which delegates decide whether to endorse the incumbent party leader or schedule a leadership convention to elect a new leader. In most parties at present, such a vote is required at the first convention following a general election. While a leadership election is only required if the incumbent leader fails to receive support from a simple majority of delegates, in practice leaders who do not win the review by a substantial margin are expected to either call a leadership election and re-offer or resign altogether. The term also refers to reviews under the Reform Act, in which the party caucuses in the House of Commons decide on whether to retain the leader.
The 2016 Conservative Party leadership election was held due to Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation as party leader. He had resigned after losing the national referendum to leave the European Union. Cameron, who supported Britain's continued membership of the EU, announced his resignation on 24 June, saying that he would step down by October. Theresa May won the contest on 11 July 2016, after the withdrawal of Andrea Leadsom left her as the sole candidate.
The 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held on May 27, 2017. Party members chose Andrew Scheer as leader, replacing Stephen Harper, who led the Conservative Party of Canada as its leader from 2004 following the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties. Harper led the party through five federal elections: the party increased its seat count in the House of Commons in 2004, formed two minority governments in 2006, and 2008, and then a majority government in 2011. Following the defeat of the party in the 2015 federal election on October 19, Harper tendered his resignation as party leader. In a statement, Conservative Party President John Walsh said he had spoken to Harper, "and he has instructed me to reach out to the newly elected parliamentary caucus to appoint an interim Leader and to implement the leadership selection process."
Michael J. Cooper is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of St. Albert—Edmonton in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election and re-elected in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Prior to entering politics, Cooper studied at the University of Alberta. He is a lector at St. Albert Parish and a member of the Knights of Columbus, St. Albert Rotary Club and St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce. He worked as a civil litigator at a law firm in Edmonton.
Leona Alleslev-Krofchak is a Canadian politician and former military officer who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill. She was elected as a Liberal in the 2015 federal election, and crossed the floor to join the Conservative Party in 2018, citing disagreements with the Liberal government over their handling of economic and foreign affairs. On October 21, 2019, she was re-elected as a Conservative. Alleslev was defeated in the 2021 federal election.
The 2019 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered when Theresa May announced on 24 May 2019 that she would resign as leader of the Conservative Party on 7 June and as prime minister of the United Kingdom once a successor had been elected. Nominations opened on 10 June; 10 candidates were nominated. The first ballot of members of Parliament (MPs) took place on 13 June, with exhaustive ballots of MPs also taking place on 18, 19 and 20 June, reducing the candidates to two. The general membership of the party elected the leader by postal ballot; the result was announced on 23 July, Boris Johnson being elected with almost twice as many votes as his opponent Jeremy Hunt.
Laila Goodridge is a Canadian politician in Alberta, Canada, who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake from the Conservative Party since 2021.
The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The writs of election were issued by Governor General Mary Simon on August 15, 2021, when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau requested the dissolution of parliament for a snap election.
Marco Andrea Longhi was a private landlord and now small rental estate agent Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Dudley North since 2019.
Leslyn Lewis is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Haldimand—Norfolk since 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, Lewis contested the party leadership in the 2020 leadership election, placing third. She was the first visible minority woman to run for the federal Conservative Party leadership. Lewis was also a candidate in the 2022 Conservative leadership election, coming in third overall. She is well known for her socially conservative views.
Rick Perkins is a Canadian politician who was elected to serve as the Member of Parliament for the riding of South Shore—St. Margarets in the 2021 Canadian federal election.
Clifford Small is a Canadian politician who is the Member of Parliament for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, having defeated Liberal incumbent Scott Simms by a close margin of 264 votes in the 2021 general election. He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is the first Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador since Peter Penashue resigned in 2013. In Newfoundland alone, he is the first Conservative MP elected since 2006. He was appointed Shadow Minister for Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency by Erin O'Toole on November 9, 2021. He endorsed Pierre Poilievre in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election. In October 2022, Poilievre appointed him as Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Shadow Minister.
The July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Boris Johnson's announcement on 7 July 2022 that he would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party after a series of political controversies. The leadership election was won in September by Liz Truss.
The 2022United Conservative Party leadership election was held on October 6, 2022, in Alberta to select a new leader of the United Conservative Party and Premier of Alberta. The leadership election was triggered following the May 18, 2022, leadership review in which the United Conservative Party membership voted 51.4 per cent in support of incumbent Premier Jason Kenney's leadership. In Kenney's speech following the announcement of the results, Kenney issued his resignation as leader of the United Conservative Party. Nominations for leadership of the United Conservative Party closed on July 20, 2022, with seven candidates meeting the nomination criteria. Party members selected their preference for leader using instant-runoff voting between September 2 and October 3, 2022.
The October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Liz Truss's announcement that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, amid an economic and political crisis. Rishi Sunak was elected unopposed on 24 October and became prime minister on 25 October.
