Newly elected Liberal leader Susan Holt says she’s in no rush to make her way into the legislature, but the party’s longest-serving MP says she’s ready to do so as soon as she’s ready.
Minutes after Holt’s win, Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-Saint Isidore MP Denis Landry said he told her he would be willing to step down to trigger a by-election in which she could be the Liberal candidate.
“I’ve already offered that to Susan,” he told CBC News on Saturday after the leadership convention ended.
New Brunswick’s Liberal Party elects a new leader
Susan Holt was elected leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party at their convention on Saturday.
Landry’s riding is among the safest Liberal constituencies in the province. He won it with 63.8 percent of the vote in the last election.
Landry was first elected in the provincial election in 1995. He lost in 1999, won his seat in 2003 and has since been re-elected.
Holt said on Saturday that two Liberal MLAs had already “whispered in my ear” that they might be willing to step down to speed up her entry into the legislature.
“There are people who have had long careers who are ready, maybe, to retire and pass the torch,” she said, though she did not identify them.
But the new leader said he was in no rush.
“I’m not thinking in the short term because I think there’s work to be done to build the base of this party, so I don’t think it’s urgent.”
Holt became the first woman elected Liberal leader in the party’s history with 51.67 per cent of the vote in the third round of the party’s preferential voting process.
Landry, who endorsed TJ Harvey in the race, said he would like to see Holt in the house as soon as possible.
“Today she will write a page of our history,” he said.
“I would like her to be in the legislature so people can get to know her better. It’s only two years until the next election and I think it will be a pretty good platform for her to be well known.”
Holt won Saturday even though Harvey, the former Tobique-Mactaquac MP, led in the first two rounds.
Holt became the first woman elected Liberal leader in the party’s history with 51.67 per cent of the vote in the third round of the party’s preferential voting process. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)
With challengers Robert Gauvin and Donald Arseneault dropping out, Holt garnered more second and third votes from his supporters.
Without a seat in the legislature, Holt is not given the title of Leader of the Official Opposition, a legislative role that goes to an elected MLA.
With interim leader Roger Melanson stepping down from that position, Holt will have to choose a sitting member to lead the official opposition until he is given a seat and takes on that role.
Elections are scheduled for 2024
Holt said she would like to do so at some point before the next election, which is set for October 2024.
She will also have to decide where to run in the next general election.
Holt is running in Fredericton South, where he lives, in 2018 against Green Leader David Coon. Coon won 56 percent of the vote, while Holt came in second with 20 percent.
She said she is open to running again against Coon, but will wait to see how the just-started redistricting plays out.
An independent commission will redraw the riding map before October 2024. She said that could affect “which side of the line my house is on,” potentially moving it to Fredericton West-Hanwell.
Landry said even if he stepped down in favor of Holt, the province’s electoral law allows Premier Blaine Higgs to delay calling a by-election for a long time.
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