At least one prospective leader of the Progressive Conservatives is happy the party executive has delayed a leadership race until next spring.

MPP Monte McNaughton, the southwestern Ontario politician who is considering a bid, says a leadership campaign next year would provide more time for new candidates to emerge in the race to succeed former leader Tim Hudak.

“It levels the playing field for all the candidates,” the Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP told Queen’s Park Briefing on Monday. “It allows the party to go through this process of rebuilding, rebranding and bringing new people into our party. I’m very satisfied with April or May.”

That spring window was a key decision of a weekend meeting of the Tory party executive, which said a convention should be held between April 1 and May 31 of next year.

The party is looking to rebuild after being battered in the June 12 election, a defeat that cost them nine seats and handed the Liberals a majority government. Hudak resigned following the election loss and has been replaced on an interim basis by MPP Jim Wilson.

Whitby-Oshawa MPP Christine Elliott – who finished third in the 2009 race that chose Hudak – is the only formally declared challenger thus far. Besides McNaughton, several caucus colleagues – including MPPs Lisa MacLeod and Vic Fedeli - and federal Conservative cousins are weighing their options.

McNaughton has begun a 107-riding barnstorming tour to speak with members and non-members alike across the province. Although he has yet to formally declare his candidacy, he said he is “seriously considering” joining the fray. McNaughton was first elected in 2011 and is the PC critic for citizenship, immigration and international trade.

MPP John Yakabuski, the caucus representative to the party, said there was a “pretty strong consensus” on a spring contest. That consensus extended to those who have expressed interest in the leadership, he noted, who are “comfortable” with a spring convention.

“A date within that time frame was acceptable to everyone,” Yakabuski told Queen’s Park Briefing. Eight months of campaigning, he added, “is more than ample for everyone involved.”

A broader range of dates will help in finding a suitable venue, explained Yakabuski. An actual venue for the convention has yet to be discussed.

Another reason to delay was to collect more input from stakeholders on the contest rules. PC Party Director of Communications Alan Sakach said the decision was influenced by what was being heard from the base.

“Due to a significant amount of input from Party members and Caucus, the executive decided there is an appetite for further consultations and discussions with Party members across Ontario to ensure everyone has had an opportunity to weigh in with their opinions and recommendations on the details of how the leadership contest should best be conducted (i.e. specific date, spending caps, entry fees, etc),” said Sakach in an email on Saturday.

The PC’s leadership committee will meet on Sept. 21 to sum up the additional feedback and report back to the full party executive.

“We will categorically set the parameters on those outstanding issues,” said Yakabuski. “We’ll have decisions on those.”

McNaughton said he would make a call on formalizing his candidacy after the September meeting.

“We’re not going to keep people hanging for months at end, so I’ll make a decision in the not-too-distant future,” he declared. “I’m not going to waste a lot of time I can promise you that.”

Tory MPP says spring leadership contest ‘levels the playing field’

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