VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – Monday’s victory for Justin Trudeau and the Liberals means the end for Stephen Harper.
The soon to be ex-PM is set to step down as Conservative leader but the question now is, who takes the party reigns.
“There are a number of people. Jason Kenney is an obvious one and Lisa Raitt may even be tempted to join in,” says University of Victoria political science professor Jamie Lawson.
Fellow Ontario MP Tony Clement’s name has also been bandied about along with Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, although the soon-to-be 50-year-old has publicly said he has no interest in the top job.
Lawson says going in house for a new leader could be a problem for the Conservatives.
“Because there has been a highly-centralized style of running the Conservative Party as a government, there has not been a great deal of development of the second-tier of leadership.”
That opens up the idea of the party looking outside for a new permanent leader.
Names like Peter Mackay – who didn’t run for re-election – may re-enter the fray.
Lawson says don’t expect Premier Christy Clark to be on that list.
“Why would Christy Clark choose to go from being premier of a vibrant province on the West Coast to being the leader of the opposition in Ottawa and having to do all that hard work of rebuilding the party,” says Lawson.
While the party says it will take its time picking a permanent head, Lawson expects the interim leader to be pretty short lived.