Heather Stefanson was declared the next Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba and Premier Designate this past weekend.
The final vote count was 8,405 for Heather Stefanson and 8,042 for Shelly Glover.
“I am pleased to announce that Heather Stefanson has been declared the next Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba,” said Tom Wiebe, President of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba. “This is a historic day for Manitoba as we welcome the first woman to lead our province and mark a new chapter for our party.”
“This election resulted in 64% voter turnout and the most votes cast in a leadership race of any political party in Manitoba,” said George Orle, Q.C., Chair of the Leadership Election Committee. “Party members can be confident in this process as we move forward as a unified party ready to take on the next election.”
Glover has said she may contest the result because many party members did not get ballots in the mail in time to cast their votes.
Up next for Stefanson is assembling a cabinet and deciding whether to reconvene the legislature as scheduled on November 16th, and she must also decide when to call a byelection to fill former premier Brian Pallister’s seat in the Fort Whyte riding.
Glover, who doesn’t have a seat in the legislature, said Saturday she would discuss the idea of running in a byelection with her team.
