Glen Savoie is interim PC leader following resignation of Blaine Higgs
Caucus chooses longtime MLA from Saint John East to be face of party until members elect a new leader
Longtime Saint John East Progressive Conservative MLA Glen Savoie is the new interim leader of the PC Party.
Savoie, who squeaked back into the New Brunswick Legislature last week with a 34-vote win in his riding, was chosen unanimously by the PC provincial council, the party's governing body.
The announcement by party president Erika Hachey confirms that Blaine Higgs has resigned as party leader in the wake of last week's defeat — something Higgs hinted on election night was coming but never officially announced.
Higgs was defeated in his Quispamsis riding on election night.
Savoie's selection means he'll also be leader of the Official Opposition in the legislature, taking the point position among the party's 16 MLAs in questioning the new government of Liberal premier-designate Susan Holt.
Holt, her cabinet and the rest of the 49 elected MLAs will be sworn in Saturday. Holt said last week the legislature will sit in November to start implementing her campaign commitments.
Savoie was first elected in 2010 but was defeated in 2014 by just nine voters.
His absence from politics was brief, however. The Liberal who defeated him, Gary Keating, resigned three weeks after the election and Savoie won the subsequent byelection.
Savoie was one of the few bilingual ministers in the Higgs government, where he held several cabinet positions, including minister of local government, minister of environment and climate change, and minister for La Francophonie.
He was also government house leader, co-ordinating the PC legislative agenda.
One of his first tasks as interim leader will be to address party members at an annual general meeting on Nov. 9.
The party hasn't set a date or established the rules for electing a new leader of the party.
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