Conservative leader Éric Duhaime received 77% of the vote in the confidence vote held in Lévis this weekend, a result well below that of his rivals François Legault and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. Those around the leader say they have taken note of the dissatisfaction.
It is only a fraction of the members present: they are the most committed, but also the most demanding. This explains why the result is slightly below our members’ estimates, said a conservative source close to the leader.
More than 300 delegates from various local associations voted during the Quebec Conservative Party convention in Lévis on Saturday.
Since Friday we have been trying to reduce expectations of the head of state’s vote of confidence. Éric Duhaime said he expected a decent result.
Former Beauce-Sud candidate Jonathan Poulin said Saturday he sensed discontent within the party. According to him, the leader runs the party too much alone. Nevertheless, Mr Poulin believes that Éric Duhaime is still the man for the job, at least for now. Some activists still thought the figure could have exceeded the 80 percent mark.
On Friday, the Conservative leader admitted that the results of the last election campaign had caused disappointment and dissatisfaction among the Conservatives. The Conservative Party (PCQ) has not chosen a candidate.
According to polling aggregator Qc125, this faction would receive around 12% of the vote today and could win three seats.
Last May, Coalition Avenir Québec leader François Legault achieved a score of 98.6%. Two months earlier, Parti Québécois (PQ) leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon achieved 98.5%.
In 2005, Bernard Landry resigned as leader of the PQ, humiliated by a score of 76%. Nine years earlier, Lucien Bouchard had chosen to remain at the top despite 76.7% support.
To date, the official name of the PCQ Conservative Party of Quebec was – Équipe Éric Duhaime. During the Congress, the Chairman proposed deleting the last three words, which members accepted almost unanimously.