LONDON, Ont. -- Ontario Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has dodged a bullet as delegates at the party's convention in London quashed a motion that could have paved the way for another leadership vote.
Hudak been under fire from a small group of disgruntled Tories who say they want another leadership review, even though Hudak won another mandate handily after losing the 2011 election.
Party rules require a leadership review after an election defeat, so the group wanted to amend the constitution so that a vote can be held at any time.
Earlier, Hudak took some tough questions ahead of the debate from the convention floor, including why his approval ratings aren't improving after four years as leader.
Hudak responded that a leader leads and the polls follow him, but said he'll put out the party's "bold vision" for Ontario and predicted that voters will respond to it.
In his speech to the more than 900 delegates, he said now's the time to come together, because an election could be around the corner.
Hudak said he won't blink or falter, but get the job done.
Hudak has been under fire since the Tories won only one of five byelections in August -- the Toronto riding of Etobicoke Lakeshore. The NDP nabbed London West and Windsor-Tecumseh, while the Liberals held on to Scarborough-Guildwood and Ottawa South.
Hudak boasted that the party had finally made a breakthrough in Toronto, which had shut them out for a decade. But the Tory losses in the other ridings -- as well as Kitchener-Waterloo a year ago, which they'd held for 13 years -- seemed to be the final straw for some Tories.
Adding to Hudak's troubles were the recent controversies surrounding two Tory caucus members. He stripped Peter Shurman of his finance critic job after he refused to pay back a housing allowance and demoted Randy Hillier after his email criticizing the party's support for a bill was leaked to the media.
