Leitch among those to lead the Conservatives
By the time the nation was waking up to election results Tuesday morning, they were also waking up to speculation about who would replace Stephen Harper as leader of the Conservative Party.
Local MP Kellie Leitch’s name has been near the top of every list of possible contenders.
National media is speculating Leitch could be the one to lead the party as it begins the process of rebuilding.
The Conservatives lost 60 seats Monday, giving the Liberals a majority.
A statement from Conservative Party of Canada president John Walsh said former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has indicated that he will continue to sit as a Member of Parliament and asks that the process to select an interim leader and initiate the leadership selection process in the party begin immediately.
He said he is communicating to the newly elected House of Commons caucus their responsibility to elect an interim leader as soon as is possible and also meeting of the National Council to create a Leadership Election Organizing Committee (LEOC) to set out the rules, dispute resolution mechanism and logistics related to the selection of a new leader.
Leitch’s name is coming up alongside Jason Kenney and Lisa Raitt among others but there is a question of how much others will want the job.
On Monday night, Leitch wouldn’t speculate about the future but there is no reason to doubt that she wouldn’t want the job.
She was made for the role.
A life-long member of the party with an ongoing interest and involvement in the party. Leitch is now entering her second term as MP.
She has demonstrated her commitment to the role, for the most part setting aside a promising career as a medical professional in favour of public service.
No one would question her allegiance to the party. She is loyal and on point, frustratingly so for the media, and certainly has the necessary ambition.
Some have said Leitch is too much like Harper but his qualities didn’t stop him from getting the top job and keeping it for more than a decade.
She has been criticized for lacking the personality that would be an asset in the retail side of politics (shaking hands and kissing babies). At the outset though she really only needs to charm party insiders as they choose the new leader and then wait for the political pendulum to swing back to the right, where Leitch will be waiting. At that time she will have developed some of that salesmanship required to sell her party’s politics.
Stephen Harper found that playing the piano and breaking into song was a good way to soften his image and appeal to voters by showing a more human side. Maybe we will find that Leitch has a hidden talent.
