Tim Hudak to resign as Ontario Tory leader after election loss

Tim Hudak is stepping down as the Ontario Progressive Conservative leader.

He made the announcement, Thursday evening, after the PCs lost to the Liberals in a general election for the second time — in less than three years — under his leadership. This time around, the Liberals won a majority with 58 seats to the PCs' 28.

"I am proud of what our team has accomplished and I am optimistic about our parties future," Hudak said to a small crowd of supporters.

"But I will not be leading the Ontario PC party into the next election campaign.

"I will meet with the caucus and the party executive inthe coming days to being the process of selecting a new leader. I will lead our party and caucus only until that new leader is selected."

Hudak did retain his seat in Niagara West-Glanbrook and said that will stay on as an MPP.

[ Related: Liberals will form majority government in Ontario ]

Since becoming PC leader, Hudak hasn't had many successes.

A review of his past two and a half years as leader isn't very pretty:

Election 2011:

Just 12 weeks before the October 6, 2011 election — the polls suggested that he had a double digit lead over Dalton McGuinty's Liberals. After a long campaign, he wasn't able to convince Ontarians that he was 'premier material', wasn't able to dislodge a tired old government and only ended up wining 37 seats and earning 35 per cent of the popular vote.

2012 Byelections:

In late 2012, then-premier Dalton McGuinty orchestrated two byelections in order to put an end to a dysfunctional minority legislature?

McGuinty failed — the Liberals won in Vaughn but lost in Kitchener-Waterloo to the NDP candidate Catherine Fife.

Hudak also failed by not winning a seat.

2013 Byelections:

Out of the five byelections in the August of 2013, the Liberals and New Democrats each won two seats, while Hudak's Tories won just one — in Etobicoke-Lakeshore — on the back of their very popular local candidate, deputy Toronto Mayor Doug Holyday.

The losses caused a minor mutiny within the party with some calling for a leadership review.

And even in this election, the campaign strategy was odd.

There's a school of thought that opposition parties — who are leading in the polls — should play it safe, to introduce only broad stroke policy issues (nothing specific). In other words Hudak should have focused on the numerous scandals accumulated by the Dalton McGuinty/Kathleen Wynne Liberals.

Instead, as explained to Yahoo Canada News by political consultant Marcel Wieder, Hudak turned this election "into a referendum on his 100,000 jobs cut plan and 1,000,000 jobs."

Whether that was a strategy put together by Hudak or by his handlers, the former has to wear that.

And, on election night, he ultimately did.

Meanwhile, the race to replace Hudak will begin in the coming days, if it hasn't already.

The immediate front runner is MPP Lisa MacLeod who handily won her seat in Nepean Carleton.

"The days ahead are going to be difficult," she told reporters, according to the Ottawa Citizen.

"I’m going to do what I’ve done since 2006, to hold the Liberal to account."

There are also several intriguing names from the federal Conservatives being bandied about.

CBC News' Evan Solomon said that former PC MPPs Tony Clement and John Baird may be interested.

Transport Minister Lisa Raitt could also be a potential candidate.

"Lot's of time to think about that...It's not the time tonight," Raitt said according to Solomon.

(Photo courtesy of the Canadian Press)

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