The takedown of Andrew Scheer - 2019-12-21

The takedown of Andrew Scheer December 21, 2019, Shannon Proudfoot, Macleans

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Just over a week later, former Harper cabinet minister Peter MacKay opined that Scheer's positions on social issues "hung around his neck like a stinking albatross" and losing this election "was like having a breakaway on an open net and missing the net." Melissa Lantsman—who ran Ford's war room in 2018—and Jamie Ellerton—a member of Scheer's election communications team—wrote an editorial arguing that Scheer's "visible discomfort" answering questions about LGBT people was a big and backwards problem that extended to the party at large.

TV panels and column inches were stacked with various Conservatives and strategists unpacking the election results—which saw the Liberals reduced to a minority of 157 seats and the Tories rise to 121 seats, though they were virtually shut out in urban areas—asking what exactly went wrong and whether Scheer could survive the harsh glare of the post-mortem examination.

The party tapped another prominent former Harper cabinet minister, John Baird, to conduct an external review of the campaign. Teneycke, meanwhile, co-founded Conservative Victory, a non-profit group aimed at ousting Scheer through what it billed as a grassroots effort, which was perhaps more astroturf-y in nature. Teneycke says his involvement is political and not a personal attack on Scheer, whom he's known for decades.

Wikipedia cite:

{{cite news | first = Shannon | last = Proudfoot | author2 = Stephen Maher; Marie-Danielle Smith; Paul Wells | title = The takedown of Andrew Scheer | url = https://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/the-takedown-of-andrew-scheer/ | work = Macleans | date = December 21, 2019 | accessdate = December 21, 2019 }}