Manitoba Progressive Conservatives choose Obby Khan as new party leader

WINNIPEG — Former cabinet minister, pro football player and business owner Obby Khan was elected leader of Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party Saturday in a very tight two-way race that came down to several decimal points.

Khan defeated Wally Daudrich, a hotel owner and longtime party board member, to take the helm of the provincial Opposition party that holds 20 of the 57 legislature seats.

Daudrich garnered 53 more votes than Khan, according to results posted to the party’s website. But under the party’s recently adopted system that awards points to each constituency based on the number of votes cast, Khan got 50.4 per cent of the total points to Daudrich’s 49.6 per cent.

“Whether you voted for Wally — a lot of people did — whether you voted for me, or you didn’t vote, I thank you for being a member of this party,” Khan told party faithful.

“But now we all need to come together because you win in politics, you win in life, through addition not subtraction.”

Daudrich did not address the crowd and left the room after speaking to well-wishers. A spokesperson for his campaign said Daudrich accepts the results.

The Progressive Conservatives are working to rebuild after losing the 2023 provincial election to the New Democrats, which prompted former premier Heather Stefanson to resign.

Stefanson’s leadership win in 2021 was also razor-thin and losing candidate Shelly Glover challenged the results in court. She alleged several voting irregularities but a judge ruled against her and said she failed to show evidence of irregularities that would have affected the result.

After his win Saturday, Khan told reporters he is getting right to work to grow the party’s support across the province.

Khan received the backing of most caucus members and promoted himself as a big-tent politician who can work with a wide range of people and is ready to lead with a seat in the legislature.

Daudrich has said the party needs to return to more conservative positions and that he would focus on smaller government and a more business-friendly environment.

The race saw Khan take few risks. He kept his promises general. At one point, he promised to give municipalities a share of the provincial sales tax but refused to specify a percentage.

Daudrich staked out more socially conservative ground.

He said some of his supporters feel the education system has become an “indoctrination system” and criticized the NDP government’s decision to cover the cost of prescription birth control.

He stirred up controversy by joking that he would tackle homelessness by letting polar bears loose outside the legislature in Winnipeg.

As the Tories look to rebuild, Winnipeg is set to play a pivotal role.

The Tories hold two of the 32 legislature seats in the capital, while the governing New Democrats have 29. Opinion polls suggest the NDP continue to enjoy broad support among voters and the New Democrats have been in much better financial shape.

The Tories used a one-member, one-vote system in 2021 in which all votes were counted with equal weight.

This time around, the party adopted a point system that limits the influence of constituencies with large membership numbers. It prevents candidates from potentially winning by flooding one or two constituencies with new membership sales.

The new system allots one point for every vote a candidate receives in constituencies with up to 100 voting members. After that, a sliding scale kicks in. A constituency with 400 voting members is worth 200 points and no constituency is worth more than 500 points.

Results posted to the party’s website show Daudrich got a solid majority of the 354 votes in Morden-Winkler, for example, but that converted to 100 points split between the two candidates.

Likewise, Khan got a strong majority of the 302 votes in the Fort Whyte constituency, which he represents in the legislature. That also converted to 100 points split between the two men.

Daudrich has floated the idea of running for a legislature seat in the Spruce Woods constituency, where a byelection is looming due to the recent resignation of Tory Grant Jackson. But Daudrich has not publicly committed to the idea.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2025

Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press