History of the Conservative Party (UK) holding a leadership election to allow him to renew his mandate. In spite of his track record as Conservative party leader, which had included defeat at three out of four general elections, few both inside and out of the party expected him to be seriously challenged, let alone defeated. However, Margaret Thatcher stood against Heath and in a shock result outpolled him on the first ballot, leading him to withdraw from the contest. Thatcher then faced off four other candidates to become the first woman to lead a major British political party. Thatcher had much support from the monetarists, led
2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election Centre for the Study of Civic Renewal. Announced on August 23, 2016, that she intended to be a candidate but failed to register and announced in January that she was ending her campaign. Some of the polls below were conducted before nominations for the leadership closed and therefore include potential candidates for the leadership race. Rona Ambrose, as interim leader, is ineligible to run for the permanent leadership unless there is a change to the party's constitution. 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election The 2017 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was held on May 27, 2017. Party members