Conservatives are all Poilievers now, can they persuade the Poili-curious?

  • National Newswatch

Pierre Poilievre's victory to win the Conservative Party of Canada leadership comes as no surprise, but now begins the hard part.At a subdued convention, which nixed $8,000 worth of confetti cannons out of respect for Queen Elizabeth II and began with a melancholic jazz rendition of God Save the King, Poilievre won on the first ballot with 68.15 per cent of points and 330 ridings under his belt. Jean Charest, with 16.07 per cent, wasn't even close.Behind Poilievre's win: a singular influx of new Conservative members, who joined the party by the hundreds of thousands. Over the last few months, tens of thousands attended his in-person events, many waiting hours in line to meet their candidate.These are Poilievre's true believers. Last week, pollster Bryan Breguet held a Twitter poll to determine what we should nickname the most diehard among them in the vein of Justin Bieber's “Beliebers” or Taylor Swift's “Swifties.” The clear winner: “Poilievers,” although I think not including “Little Skippers” as an option was a clear oversight.