Former N.L. PC Party President Eugene Manning enters Progressive Conservative leadership race

Eugene Manning, the former president of the PC Party, announced Tuesday that he'll be running in the party's leadership race.

Manning is the third candidate to enter the race, along with current MHAs Tony Wakeham and Lloyd Parrott.

"Do any of you feel that, anywhere in the Confederation building, there is a real, actionable plan for our future?" Manning said at a news conference Tuesday evening.

"If you don't have a plan, you don't have real leadership."

Manning said the current PC Party has done a good job pointing out the "inconsistencies and failings" of Andrew Furey and the Liberal Party. But, he says, the province needs a party that does more than offer criticisms.

"I'm here tonight because our party has an opportunity to deliver real change," he said. "But the first step in delivering change is we have to give people a reason to support us."

Manning is the only candidate running in the party's leadership race thus far who has not served as a politician. He is the founder of J & E Enterprises Limited, a Newfoundland-based civil construction firm.

However, he is no stranger to the PC Party. He served as the Party's president until resigning in April 2021, less than a week after former PC leader Ches Crosbie announced his resignation.

When Crosbie stepped down from the job, Manning cited concerns about a lack of neutrality, writing in a letter to executive party members at the time that "there is an exceptionally low probability that I will remain neutral through the leadership contest as I consider my own future."

Manning publicly suggested running for the position after Crosbie stepped down, following his second defeat in a general election.

Nominations open May 17, and a leadership convention is set for October.

Manning said Tuesday that his focus is to build a better government system, rather than continuing to navigate a broken one. He says building is something he's well-equipped to do, after working alongside his father from a young age for his family's business, building things like wharves and breakwaters.

He also received a degree in civil engineering from Memorial University.

"From Long Cove to Trout River, Harbour Breton to Fleurs de Lys, I've been doing my part to build Newfoundland and Labrador my entire life, and I'm proud of it" he said.