Andrew Scheer narrowly beats Bernier to become federal Conservative leader
TORONTO — Andrew Scheer, an apple-cheeked social conservative and former House of Commons Speaker seen by some as a pragmatic, mainstream echo of Stephen Harper, survived a 13-ballot battle Saturday with rival Maxime Bernier as he eked out the narrowest of wins in the fight for the helm of the federal Conservatives.
The nail-biting process of winnowing the 13-candidate field went the full distance before Scheer, 38, was declared the winner with just 50.95 per cent of the available points, barely besting longtime front-runner Maxime Bernier, who posted 49.05 per cent after leading all 12 of the previous ballots.
“Every single kind of Conservative is welcome in this party and this party belongs to all of you,” the Ottawa-born Saskatchewan MP told the crowd during his victory speech.
“We all know what it looks like when Conservatives are divided; we will not let that happen again. We win when we are united.”