Conservative leadership data shows social conservatives had a strong showing in suburban Toronto ridings, where anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage candidates were the first choice of a significant percentage of party members.Social conservatives were credited with providing the final push to secure Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s victory at the party’s Etobicoke convention Saturday.According to data released by the party, that victory took place virtually in the backyard of a lot of social conservatives.Read more:Scheer’s election as Conservative leader cheered by anti-abortion groupsAndrew Scheer cites ‘new hope for Canada’ in first caucus addressAndrew Scheer has his work cut out to prevent Trudeau rebuilding Quebec fortress: HébertIn six Scarborough ridings, either of two social conservative candidates, Brad Trost or Pierre Lemieux, was the first choice of between 20 and 55 per cent of Conservative members. In Scarborough-Agincourt alone, Trost took in more than 49 per cent of first choice picks.In Mississauga between 17 per cent and 24 per cent of members listed Trost or Lemieux as their first choice.These ridings are mostly represented by Liberal MPs, so while social conservatives are a force among conservative members in these ridings, they don’t appear to have the same sway with the general electorate.The surprising support for social conservatives in Toronto is just one of the insights that can be drawn from voting data released by the Conservative Party. The Star analyzed the first choice of all 141,000 Conservative members who voted in the party’s leadership contest — essentially a 141,000-person focus group on where members want their party to go.For the analysis, the Star grouped the 14 leadership candidates into five categories based on their policy pitches: progressive conservatives; social conservatives; “big tent” conservatives; law-and-order conservatives; and Maxime ...
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