Conservatives elect Candice Bergen as interim party leader
Global News
Candice Bergen replaces Erin O'Toole who was booted out by the Conservative caucus amid growing frustration with his leadership.
Candice Bergen has been elected as the interim leader of the Conservative Party after the removal of Erin O’Toole.
In a caucus vote late on Wednesday, Conservative MPs gave the nod to Bergen to replace O’Toole after months of infighting severely weakened his hold over the party.
The interim selection of Bergen came hours after O’Toole was ousted from the leadership role, with 73 MPs voting to remove him, and just 45 lining up in his support.
The vote was called after 35 MPs signed a petition over the weekend to put his leadership to the test.
O’Toole is the first party leader to be removed under a process outlined in the Reform Act, legislation passed in 2015 that allows a caucus to give members the power to trigger a leadership review.
Anger against his leadership had been simmering for months – sparked by September’s disappointing election results.
The Conservatives lost ground in crucial regions of the country, compared to 2019’s election loss.
This is a breaking news story. More to come…