The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right political party in New Brunswick, Canada. It has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granting of responsible government to the colony. Conservative supporters tended to be United Empire Loyalists and supporters of the business community.
In the 1860s, both the Conservative and Liberal parties split over the issue of Canadian confederation, and were replaced by the Confederation Party and the Anti-Confederation Party.
By 1870, the pro-Confederation party became generally known as the Liberal-Conservatives or just "Conservatives", and were aligned with the national Conservative Party of Sir John A. Macdonald.
The Tories have alternated power with the New Brunswick Liberal Association since Confederation. The party tends to hold a moderate Red Tory and Christian Democratic position, being socially and fiscally centrist. For most of New Brunswick's history, the party had greater support among English speakers, while the Liberals were more popular among Acadians. However, initiatives by the governments of Richard Hatfield and Bernard Lord to include Acadians in the mainstream of New Brunswick life helped the party make inroads in Acadia. In fact, even though he was born in Quebec, former Premier Bernard Lord is widely perceived to be an Acadian, due to his francophone heritage and the fact that he was raised in Moncton where he attended French language schools and university.
The party was aligned with the historic federal Conservative party. When the federal party changed its name to the Progressive Conservatives in 1942, the New Brunswick party did the same. The federal Progressive Conservative Party dissolved in 2003, and a new Conservative Party of Canada was created. The provincial party has no formal link with the current federal Conservative Party, but several of its members and elected MLAs, including former Premier Lord, publicly endorsed the federal party and in some cases its candidates in both the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.
Following the change of government in 2006 provincial election, Bernard Lord resigned as leader on December 13, 2006 and as the member of Moncton East. On December 19, Jeannot Volpé, MLA for Madawaska-les-Lacs, was selected as interim leader. On October 18, 2008 David Alward, MLA for Woodstock, was elected leader of the party at the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick Leadership Convention in Fredericton. Alward beat his only opponent, Robert MacLeod, by a margin of 2,269 votes to 1,760.
The Progressive Conservatives won a sweeping majority, with 42 of 55 seats in the 2010 provincial election. In doing so, party leader David Alward became the province's 32nd premier.
Read more about Progressive Conservative Party Of New Brunswick: Current Members of The Legislature
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