Houston wins N.S. Tory leadership
Second-place challenger drops off the ballot
Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives have a new leader after the second place challenger in the five-way race dramatically dropped off the ballot Saturday at the party’s convention in Halifax.
Tim Houston watched as Cecil Clarke strode across the floor with a train of his supporters, minutes after the results of the first ballot left the party’s finance critic just 53 points shy of the 2,550 points needed to win under the convention’s weighted voting system.
Clarke, who won 1,385 points on the first ballot, told Houston he conceded early because he wanted to ensure party unity coming out of the convention.
A beaming Houston said he was grateful for Clarke’s magnanimous move, which was later seconded by the remaining candidates in the race when they also dropped off the ballot.
“I’m very proud that he (Clarke) did it,” he said. “This is a high moment. It’s a high moment for the party and I’m really grateful that this happened.”
As a result, Houston said he was “100 per cent convinced” that he would be leading a united party.
For his part, Clarke, the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality and a former Tory cabinet minister, said he knew what he needed to do after the first ballot.
“I believe in bringing this party together and it’s about the next election,” Clarke said to reporters.
“The party is bigger than any one person and it’s bigger than me and I am happy to support our new leader Tim Houston.”
Houston, 48, a chartered accountant, positioned himself during the nearly year-long campaign as the best candidate to take on the governing Liberals in the next election, expected sometime in 2021.
Houston was first elected to the provincial legislature are the MLA for Pictou East in 2013 and he was re-elected in 2017. The Pictou County resident is married and has two children.
The perceived front-runner was the first into the race, jumping in soon after former leader Jamie Baillie announced that he was stepping down last November. Baillie later resigned in January amid unspecified allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
As a result of his aggressive style and status, Houston often became the target of his opponents through a series of six debates held across the province.
On Saturday, Houston said he was sure there wouldn’t be any acrimony in the future.
Candidates and fellow caucus members John Lohr and Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin had been particularly critical.