Doug Ford hasn’t even announced whether he will seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative party yet, but the defeated mayoral candidate is already talking a big game, telling CP24 he is “confident” that he could win the GTA for the party and oust the Liberals from power.
Ford, who lost to John Tory by about 64,000 votes in the recent municipal election, made the comment during a one-on-one interview with Stephen LeDrew on Thursday.
“I am confident, I know where our support is,” Ford said. “Our support is in Scarborough, certain parts of North York and Etobicoke and we have a stronger base in the 905 and the 705 than we do in the 416… There are 47 seats in total between the 416 and the 905 and that is almost half of all of the (107) seats. So, if we really focus on that area we can (win).”
In the most recent provincial election, the Tories were decimated in the GTA ending up with just four seats compared to 39 for the Liberals.
The result has led some party insiders to suggest that Ford would be a viable candidate for the leadership, given his strong base in suburban Toronto.
Speaking with CP24, Ford said he is not yet sure on whether he will run, but is consulting with various advisors “everyday” and is starting to hash out a vision of what he wants for the party.
“We have to rebuild the party,” he said. “We have to get back to the grassroots of meeting the people and uniting everyone, which they haven’t done over the last few elections. I would welcome union members and support the front-line workers. Those are the people that vote for us and those are the people that we need to bring back into the party.”
So far, Tory MPP’s Vic Fedeli, Christine Elliott, Monte McNaughton and Lisa MacLeod as well as Conservative MP Patrick Brown have expressed interest in running for the leadership of the PC party.
Candidates have until Jan. 30 to register.
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