Leslyn Lewis launches bid for Conservative leadership
OTTAWA-Leslyn Lewis has launched her campaign for leadership of the federal Conservative party saying Canadians are desperate for hope and unity.
Lewis unveiled her bid video on social media featuring a speech she made in the House of Commons where she attacked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for what she called a lack of leadership.
Guarding our freedoms and upholding our democracy means we need to have compassionate hearts and listening ears," she said.
This isn't about who is right and who is wrong. It is about who gets to be a part of this conversation and the only acceptable answer to that question is everybody."
Lewis ran for the party leadership in 2020 and placed third.
Her campaign that time began by galvanizing the social conservatives in the party but expanded to attract interest from party members turned off by the two front runners in the campaign, Erin O'Toole and Peter MacKay.
Upon entering the 2020 leadership, she made history as the first Black woman to run for leadership of the Conservatives.
She became the MP for the Ontario riding of Haldimand-Norfolk in the last election, taking over the seat from long-time party stalwart Diane Finley.
She had run for the Tories in 2015, parachuted in as a last-minute candidate in the Toronto riding of Scarborough-Rouge Park when the previous candidate was caught up in a scandal.
Lewis stayed on the sidelines of federal political life after that, choosing to work on her PhD instead but then decided to go for the party's top job in 2020, a run she said at the time was motivated by a desire to bring courage and compassion back to politics.
She has the support of numerous social conservative groups, but the populist wing of the party which flocked to her side in the 2020 race may already be lining up with the only other officially declared candidate Pierre Poilievre.
At least one of the MPs who backed Lewis' run in the last race has sided with his campaign this time around.
Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz