Pierre Poilievre is the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, securing victory on the first ballot after a record-breaking and divisive leadership campaign. After a seven-month campaign, the longtime Ontario MP and former minister won the election in a landslide, securing 22,993 of just under 33,800 electoral votes. Taking 68.15 percent of the vote, Poilievre far outpaced his progressive conservative rival and runner-up Jean Charest with 16.07 percent of the vote. Leslyn Lewis came in third, with 9.69 percent of the vote. Roman Baber came in fourth with 5.03 percent of the vote and Scott Aitchison finished last with 1.06 percent of the vote. The results of the postal vote were revealed in a more limited fashion than originally planned, due to the country being in official mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. A minute’s silence and tribute was observed before Poilievre was named the winner. While the party aimed for a low-key event, pulling the plug on the confetti cannons, the crowd of about 1,000 erupted in cheers and some chants of “freedom” when the results were announced. One of the main questions asked tonight was whether Poilievre could get it on the first ballot, a feat last accomplished by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2004. Ahead of the results, Charest’s camp said they still felt they had a path to victory, although touting Poilievre’s campaign statistics, top adviser Jenni Byrne said they felt “pretty good.” The results were calculated in points, with up to 100 points in each of the 338 ridings. Ultimately there were 33,737 points up for grabs after the verification process was completed, making the threshold required to earn 50 percent plus one: 16,869, a metric Poilievre significantly surpassed. In an effort to avoid the significant delays seen in the party’s 2020 race due to a mechanical problem that resulted in thousands of ballots being destroyed during the opening, the tabulations began on Saturday. However, the results were about half an hour behind what the party had originally planned. More to come…