Monica Barley won't enter PC leadership race

There's already been a shakeup in the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative leadership race, even before the contest is officially underway.

Monica Barley, a bilingual lawyer practising in Moncton, who was seen as a potential fresh face for the party, will not be a candidate.

Barley confirmed her decision in an email to CBC News.

"I have decided not to run," she said.

Barley isn't an MLA, but many PC members felt her outsider status and her Kent County background could work in her favour.

She was attracting a lot of support from key Tories in the Moncton area.

Meanwhile, Southwest Miramichi-Bay du Vin MLA Jake Stewart says he is still thinking about running, but is reconsidering because of what he calls "the Flemming wave."

That's a reference to former health minister and Rothesay MLA Ted Flemming, another potential candidate.

"People are lining up behind Ted," Stewart said.

The party has yet to set a date for the leadership race to replace former premier David Alward, but several candidates are spending this fall assessing whether they have the support to run.

Other potential candidates being discussed in party circles include MLAs Brian Macdonald, Blaine Higgs, and Madeleine Dubé, former Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen and Saint John Mayor Mel Norton.