Conservative leadership race gets third candidate

Robert MacLeod has announced he is seeking the leadership of New Brunswick's Progressive Conservative party — the third candidate to put his name forward.

MacLeod, the vice-president of marketing for G.E. Barbour Inc., launched his campaign for the party's top position in Sussex on Monday, joining former cabinet ministers and current MLAs David Alward and Bruce Fitch, who have already begun their campaigns to become Conservative leader.

MacLeod, the first candidate to enter the race while not currently serving as an MLA, said New Brunswickers deserve leadership that listens and practical solutions to their day-to-day concerns.

MacLeod has been involved in several election campaigns from inside the party.

The Conservatives will hold their leadership convention on Oct. 18 at the Aitken Centre at the University of New Brunswick's Fredericton campus. There will also be at least four satellite voting stations across the province.

The party will be using a one-member, one-vote system to choose the new leader.

The convention comes 11 years after the party chose Bernard Lord as its last leader. Lord resigned in January 2007 after his government lost the 2006 provincial election to the governing Liberals.

Since then, Jeannot Volpé has been serving as interim leader.