Following the 2004 election, Harris was challenged for the leadership by Tom Manley, a prominent party activist from eastern Ontario. Manley argued that Harris was shifting the GPC too far to the right, and was abandoning the party's traditional emphasis on local production in favour of greater accommodation with corporate interests. Harris won re-election as GPC leader in August 2004 on the first ballot count, though by a narrower margin than before. Manley was later appointed deputy leader, but left the GPC in 2005 to join the Liberals.