Harper taking a back seat to Ambrose, successor at Tory leadership convention
OTTAWA — Former Conservative party leader and prime minister Stephen Harper is not expected at this month’s leadership convention, party officials said Thursday.
Party members will converge in Toronto on May 27 to choose his official replacement, but while interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose is scheduled to speak, the party says Harper is not.
“He’s ready to pass the torch,” said a party official, who requested anonymity because they hadn’t been cleared by the party to disclose Harper’s plans.
Harper spent 12 years as the inaugural leader of the united Conservative party, winning the 2004 race easily in a three-candidate contest where members were allowed to vote by fax and ballots were counted by hand.