Interim PC Leader Glen Savoie won't run in party leadership race next year

Interim Progressive Conservative Leader Glen Savoie won't be a candidate in the party's leadership race next year, the politician announced Friday.

The Saint John East MLA and former cabinet minister with the Higgs government said it was in the best interest of the party that he remain in place and provide stability until then, however.

"If I were to step back, that creates another new dynamic in our caucus … [and] another new dynamic to the party," Savoie told reporters Friday.

"I think that I need to show that leadership to say, 'You know what, this isn't the best interest of the party.'"

Savoie said he heard from many party members who wanted him to run for the permanent leadership. 

"I appreciate their confidence and trust. I know that I do have a lot to offer, but I'm just offering it in this way because I think it's the right thing to do."

Savoie will remain interim leader until PC members elect their new leader in October 2026.

No candidates yet declared

No one has officially declared themselves a candidate for the job yet. 

But party rules adopted in the spring said whoever was in the interim leader position as of June 30 would not be eligible to run.

That forced Savoie to decide by Canada Day whether to give up the interim job if he wanted to keep the option of joining the race.

At least two of Savoie's former cabinet colleagues are considering running for leader.

WATCH | 'I need to remain where I'm at': Savoie on staying put:

Glen Savoie, the interim PC leader, won’t run in leadership race

10 hours ago

Duration 1:23

Saint John East MLA Glen Savoie would need to quit the interim role to become a candidate next year. He’s decided to stay put instead.

Daniel Allain, who broke ranks with then-premier Blaine Higgs in 2023 on the province's gender identity policy in schools, and did not run in the 2024 election, has been travelling the province measuring support.

Kris Austin, the former PC public safety minister and MLA for Fredericton-Grand Lake, has also been considering it.

Savoie said it would not be proper for him as interim leader to endorse any other candidate, but he said he thinks whoever takes over has to remain connected to the party grassroots.

Higgs faced criticism from within PC ranks that he was making decisions without input from his caucus of MLAs and that he let the party organization atrophy, with little policy input from members.

"I think what all parties need to do, not just our party, is to focus on their grassroots," Savoie said Friday.

"For me, it's how do we rebuild our grassroots so that our party become a reflection of the grassroots and not a reflection of the leader?"