Federal Affiliation
Since the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and the Canadian Alliance to create the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, the provincial Progressive Conservatives have not been formally affiliated with a party at the federal level. Under Premier Williams the party's relationship with federal Conservatives, led by Stephen Harper, was often tenuous. After Harper reneged on a promise made to Williams during the 2006 federal election, regarding equalization payments, Williams launched the Anything But Conservative (ABC) campaign. The ABC campaign encouraged people to vote for any other party but the Conservatives, with a goal of making sure no Conservative was elected in the next federal election in Newfoundland and Labrador. The campaign, which was supported by all but one member of Williams' caucus, crippled the federal party's ability to find candidates and volunteers. On election night the campaign was successful, the Conservative Party lost the three seats they had held prior to the election, and won only 17% of the popular vote in the province. Despite being shut out of Newfoundland and Labrador the Conservatives did manage to win a second minority government. Following the election Williams announced that it was time to end his battle with Ottawa, and both him and Harper signalled a willingness to work with each other.
When Dunderdale succeeded Williams as Premier she worked to build a stronger relationship between the province and Harrper's Conservative government. At the beginning of the May 2011 federal election campaign Dunderdale gave the green light to members of her caucus to campaign with the federal Conservative Party. At a campaign stop in St. John's Dunderdale, along with the majority of her caucus, endorsed the Conservative Party. After having difficulty attracting candidates in 2008, the Conservative ran three former provincial cabinet ministers who served under Williams. Despite the support from the provincial party the Conservatives were unable to get back to their traditional level of support, they elected one MP and increased their popular vote to 28%.
Read more about this topic: Progressive Conservative Party Of Newfoundland And Labrador
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