Conservative leadership race: Lewis is in, Charest expected to announce Thursday

Social conservatives get their standard bearer with Leslyn Lewis’ entry into the race after a strong outsider bid in 2020, while Jean Charest presents himself as a unity candidate.

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) leadership race is getting more crowded this week with Ontario MP Leslyn Lewis announcing a bid and former Quebec Premier Jean Charest holding an event in Calgary Thursday.

Lewis joined Pierre Poilievre as the only declared candidates in the race Tuesday, hoping to reprise a surprisingly strong outsider bid in the party’s 2020 leadership contest – driven, in part, by the party’s influential social conservative wing.

A source close to Charest – who led the federal Progressive Conservatives before jumping to provincial politics – confirmed he will be announcing his candidacy at a Thursday night event in Calgary.

In Lewis, the party’s organized and influential social conservative wing has found a likely standard bearer. While Lewis has previously said she did not identify as social conservative before getting involved with the Conservative Party, she received top marks from Campaign Life Coalition – an influential social conservative group – in the 2020 leadership contest for her positions on abortion, euthanasia and “pro-family values.”

Her campaign will be helmed by Steve Outhouse, a veteran Conservative operator who managed her 2020 bid.

While social conservatives are just one of the factions that make up the Conservative coalition, they can have a significant impact on the party’s leadership contests – as evidenced by Lewis’ 2020 bid. The ranked-ballot nature of Conservative leadership races means other candidates will want to siphon Lewis’ supporters’ down-ballot support.

Charest’s candidacy is a significant wildcard in the race. A veteran politician accustomed to tough fights, Charest has nevertheless been out of federal politics for more than two decades. After deciding to stay out of the 2020 leadership race, Charest told reporters that the party had changed since his departure in 1998.

It hasn’t changed a whole lot in the intervening two years – except at the top.