Despite his defeat on Monday, Toronto may have not seen the last of Doug Ford.
In a post-election interview with the Toronto Star, he told the newspaper that he’s considering running for the leadership of Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Party.
“We bring a whole new demographic to the table,” he told the Star. “I think we would have a big base of support.”
He’s not wrong. On Monday, 34 per cent of the ballots were in favour of Doug Ford. And that is certainly something that has to be attractive to a party that has had trouble convincing people in Toronto to vote conservative blue.
Ford has until January 30, 2015 to decide whether he’s serious about the idea, though we may know of his intentions as soon as next week. On November 8, candidates running for the party’s leadership may file the proper paperwork.
Four current MPPs have already said the they will be running for the position. They include Christine Elliott, widow to the late Jim Flaherty, Vic Fedeli, Lisa MacLeod and Monte McNaughton. Additionally, Barrie MP Patrick Brown has also said he will be running for the spot.
Ford doesn’t seem to think much of the current field.
“My personal opinion, I don’t think any of the candidates could beat Kathleen Wynne . . . they don’t attract a certain base in Toronto and the 905 that we would attract.” [Source: Toronto Star]
Image via Flickr user Andrew Louis.
____
Igor Bonifacic is the managing editor of Toronto Standard. Follow him on Twitter.
For more, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter.