Erin O’Toole has won the race to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
The Ontario MP won on the third ballot during Sunday’s leadership convention in Ottawa.
“I want you to know from the start that I’m here to fight for you and your family,” said O’Toole during his acceptance speech early Monday.
O’Toole received 57.02 per cent of the vote on the third ballot compared to 42.98 per cent for Peter MacKay.
Derek Sloan was eliminated on the first ballot while Leslyn Lewis dropped off after the second ballot.
O’Toole thanked his leadership contenders, his campaign team, and the tens of thousands of Conservatives who voted for him.
“You put your faith in me to lead this historic party and I’m honoured and humbled. I promise you I will not let you down,” he said.
“Today, you have given me a clear mission to unite our party, to champion our Conservative principles, to show Canadians what we know so well: that Justin Trudeau and his team are failing our great country.”
The results were delayed by several hours after the machine used to open the ballot envelopes malfunctioned, damaging several thousand ballots. The final results were not announced until around 1 a.m. ET on Monday.
Outgoing leader Andrew Scheer addressed party members earlier in the evening. He urged Conservatives to come together and focus on the things which unite them.
“After tonight, let’s all rally behind the new leader and do everything we can to make sure that the next leader of the Conservative party becomes the next prime minister of this great country,” said Scheer.
With the leadership campaign now behind him, O’Toole said now is the time for the real work to begin.
“We could be into an election campaign as soon as this fall. But as more than 260,000 passionate Conservatives have already shown in this record-breaking leadership amidst a pandemic, the Conservative party will be ready for the next election and we will win the next election,” he said.
Nearly 175,000 of the almost 270,000 eligible party members cast a ballot in the leadership convention.
