Charest returning to private sector after finishing distant 2nd in Conservative leadership race

One of the most stunning parts of Pierre Poilievre’s first-ballot victory to become the next leader of the Conservative Party of Canada was his success in Quebec.

Poilievre, who is a fluent French-speaker, captured nearly all ridings over the province’s former premier Jean Charest.

Charest congratulated Poilievre in a video posted to social media on Sunday, adding he plans to return to life in the private sector but will stay active in the party.

Charest took a leave of absence from his role as partner at McCarthy Tetrault LLP in order to enter the race.

“Now is time for us to prepare the next election campaign and to unite,” Charest said in his video, “unite behind the new leader.”

“I will continue to be a member of the party and I will continue to fight for the ideas that I put forward during this leadership race.”

His former campaign co-chair said Charest has no intention of running as a candidate in the next federal election. Mike Coates made the comment in an opinion piece that appeared Sunday in the National Post, where he also poured cold water on the idea the Charest team has plans to form a separate party now that Poilievre has won.

Speculations about such a move surfaced during the leadership contest because some centrists and progressives feared the direction Poilievre would take the party, given his support for the right-wing populism that coursed through last winters’ trucker convoy.

“The membership has spoken,” Coates wrote. “It is time for partisans to do what we do best: Unite.”

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Poilievre’s victory in Quebec comes after almost all 10 members of Parliament endorsed Charest in the race. Joel Godin, one of those MPs, previously mused he would need to think about his political future if Poilievre were to win.

Getting the Quebec MPs on side is one of the tasks facing Poilievre. He was expected to meet with the entire caucus on Monday, which will also be a chance to hammer out their priorities for the fall.