The Conservative Party of Canada elects its leaders through a process known as a leadership election. The most recent leadership election was held in 2022.
Since 2004, the party has elected its leaders on a one member, one vote basis using a ranked ballot. The process is weighted so that each riding is allocated 100 points, divided proportionately among candidates based on their percentage of the vote in that riding. [1] This process was first used in the 1998 Progressive Conservative leadership election, a predecessor party of the modern Conservative Party.
Held in Toronto, Ontario on March 20, 2004.
| Candidate | 1st round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | % | Points allocated | % | ||
 | Stephen Harper | 67,143 | 68.9% | 17,296 | 56.2% |
 | Belinda Stronach | 22,286 | 22.9% | 10,613 | 34.5% |
 | Tony Clement | 7,968 | 8.2% | 2,887 | 9.4 |
| Total | 174,404 | 100% | 33,800 | 100% | |
Held in Toronto, Ontario on May 27, 2017.
| Candidate | Round 1 | Round 13 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | % | Points | % | |
| Andrew Scheer | 7,375.79 | 21.82% | 17,222.20 | 50.95% |
| Maxime Bernier | 9,763.32 | 28.89% | 16,577.80 | 49.05% |
| Erin O'Toole | 3,600.72 | 10.65% | ||
| Brad Trost | 2,820.87 | 8.35% | ||
| Michael Chong | 2,552.47 | 7.55% | ||
| Kellie Leitch | 2,366.09 | 7.00% | ||
| Pierre Lemieux | 2,495.71 | 7.38% | ||
| Lisa Raitt | 1,127.93 | 3.34% | ||
| Steven Blaney | 426.37 | 1.26% | ||
| Chris Alexander | 379.10 | 1.12% | ||
| Kevin O'Leary | 361.21 | 1.07% | ||
| Rick Peterson | 220.58 | 0.65% | ||
| Andrew Saxton | 169.94 | 0.50% | ||
| Deepak Obhrai | 139.90 | 0.41% | ||
Conducted by mail-in ballot due August 21, with results announced on August 23-24.
| Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | % | Points allocated | % | Votes cast | % | Points allocated | % | Votes cast | % | Points allocated | % | ||
 | Erin O'Toole | 51,258 | 29.39% | 10,681.40 | 31.60% | 56,907 | 33.20% | 11,903.69 | 35.22% | 90,635 | 58.86% | 19,271.74 | 57.02% |
 | Peter MacKay | 52,851 | 30.30% | 11,328.55 | 33.52% | 54,165 | 31.60% | 11,756.01 | 34.78% | 63,356 | 41.14% | 14,528.26 | 42.98% |
 | Leslyn Lewis | 43,017 | 24.67% | 6,925.38 | 20.49% | 60,316 | 35.20% | 10,140.30 | 30.00% | Eliminated | |||
 | Derek Sloan | 27,278 | 15.64% | 4,864.67 | 14.39% | Eliminated | |||||||
| Total | 174,404 | 100% | 33,800 | 100% | 171,388 | 100% | 33,800 | 100% | 153,991 | 100% | 33,800 | 100% | |
Following the ousting of previous leader Erin O’Toole, a leadership election to choose his successor was held.
On September 10, 2022, the Conservative Party announced that Pierre Poilievre had won the election in the first round with 68% of points.
Poilievre won the leadership election in a landslide, carrying 330 of 338 ridings with at least a plurality. The only other candidate to win a plurality in any ridings was Jean Charest, whose support mostly came from Quebec, though Poilievre still won 72 of the province's 78 ridings. Charest won his former federal riding of Sherbrooke, all other candidates losing their ridings to Poilievre. [3]
John James "Jean" Charest is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House of Commons in 1984 and would serve in several federal cabinet positions between 1986 and 1993. He became the leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party in 1993 and remained in the role until he entered provincial politics in 1998. Charest was elected as the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, and his party went on to form government in 2003.
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".
The Ontario New Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following the 2018 general election. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961 from the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL).
An interim leader, in Canadian politics, is a party leader appointed by the party's legislative caucus or the party's executive to temporarily act as leader when a gap occurs between the resignation or death of a party leader and the election of their formal successor. Usually a party leader retains the leadership until a successor is formally chosen — however, in some situations this is not possible, and an interim leader is thus appointed by the party's caucus or the party executive. An interim leader may also be appointed while a leader is on a leave of absence due to poor health or some other reason, and then relinquish the position upon the leader's return.
In Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader.
The first Progressive Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held in 1927, when the party was called the Conservative Party. Prior to then the party's leader was chosen by the caucus or in several cases by the Governor General of Canada designating a Conservative MP or Senator to form a government after the retirement or death of an incumbent Conservative Prime Minister.
On January 23, 2004, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader Ernie Eves announced his intention to step down as leader before the fall of 2004. Eves was elected party leader in the party's 2002 leadership election, and became Premier of Ontario. He led the party to defeat in the 2003 provincial election.
Jim Wilson is a retired Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the riding of Simcoe—Grey, and its predecessor riding of Simcoe West, from 1990 to 2022. He sat as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario caucus from his first election until November 2, 2018, when he resigned from caucus due to allegations of sexual misconduct. While part of the PC caucus, Wilson was chosen by his fellow caucus members on July 2, 2014, to serve as interim leader of the party and Leader of the Opposition following the resignation of Tim Hudak. He continued to serve as Leader of the Opposition until September 2015 when new party leader, Patrick Brown, entered the legislature through a by-election. He was reelected in June 2018, but resigned from cabinet and the Progressive Conservative caucus on November 2, 2018. He sat as an independent member for the remainder of the 42nd Parliament of Ontario and did not seek re-election in the 2022 Ontario general election.
Michael A. "Mike" Brown is a former politician in Ontario, Canada and was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from October 2005 until October 2007. He sat in the Ontario legislature representing the northern riding of Algoma—Manitoulin for the Ontario Liberal Party from 1987 to 2011.
Pierre Marcel Poilievre is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the leader of the Official Opposition since 2022. He has been a member of Parliament (MP) since 2004.
This article covers the history of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The 1990 Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election was a leadership convention held in May 1990 to elect a new leader for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Two candidates vied for the leadership - Mike Harris and Dianne Cunningham. Using a novel voting system used due to party funding constraints, Harris was elected over Cunningham in a single ballot by a margin of 7,175 points to 5,825 points.
The 1998 Progressive Conservative leadership election was held on October 24 and November 14, 1998 to choose a successor to Jean Charest. This was the first time the Progressive Conservatives used a one member, one vote system to choose a leader rather than a delegated leadership convention, which has been the norm since 1927. The 1998 election used a point system that allocated 100 points to each riding, regardless of the number of votes cast in the riding. The candidate who won a majority of points would win the leadership. All party members were eligible to cast a vote. If no candidate received a majority of points on the first ballot, the lowest ranking candidate would be automatically eliminated and a second ballot was to be held using a preferential ballot if more than two candidates remained. The 100-point-per-riding system was again used by the Conservative Party of Canada in their leadership elections.
John Nater is a Canadian politician. He is currently serving as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Perth—Wellington in the House of Commons of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Joe Clark, the sixteenth Prime Minister of Canada.
This article is the Electoral history of Kim Campbell, the nineteenth Prime Minister of Canada.
Roman Baber is a Canadian politician who was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for York Centre from 2018 to 2022. Baber was elected as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario until he was removed by Premier Doug Ford, the party leader, in January 2021. He sat as an Independent until the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly on May 3, 2022.
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. She is known for her socially conservative views.
The 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was a leadership election held by the Conservative Party of Canada to elect the successor to Erin O'Toole. He was removed on February 2, 2022, as leader by the party's caucus in the House of Commons of Canada by a vote of 73–45. Candice Bergen was chosen as interim party leader and served until a permanent leader was elected.
Melissa LantsmanMP is a Canadian politician and public relations executive who serves as the Member of Parliament for Thornhill in the House of Commons of Canada. A member of the Conservative Party of Canada, she was elected in the 2021 Canadian federal election. Lanstman is the first openly gay and first Jewish woman ever elected as a Conservative MP. Upon Pierre Poilievre's election as Conservative Leader, he named Lantsman one of two deputy leaders along with Edmonton MP Tim Uppal.