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The February 3016 Wiltshire Conservative Party Leadership Election took place between February 1 and February 13 to elect the new Leader of the Conservative Party following the party's worst ever election showing in the January 3016 Wiltshire General Election - which resulted in a landslide Socialist Majority.
Incumbent Leader, defeated Prime Minister David Loynd, resigned the day after the election and his deputy Leader - Ludwig Kohl - served as Acting Leader until the election. The election was the second to allow party members to elect the leader and would be the first of many in opposition.
This election saw backbench AM Pete Bus elected Party Leader.
Procedure
The procedure for the election of the Conservative Leader was the exact same from the March 3013 Conservative Leadership Election;
- Upon the resignation of the Leader, there shall be an election for their successor within 2 weeks of their formal submitting to the National Executive.
- Nominations shall be granted to candidates who obtain 15% (1 AMs or 8 CCAs) of the Parliamentary Conservative Party or 15% of the Constituency Conservative Party Associations.
- All nominated candidates shall go to a vote of the Parliamentary Conservative Party. There shall be successive votes until two nominated candidates remain.
- Those two remaining candidates shall be put to a poll of the general membership, with the triumphant candidate becoming Leader.
This process was put in place in 3012 by the Conservative Party Rules Review, headed up by Edward Jellico. This was the second of 11 leadership elections to use it as a basic outline.
This leadership election was notable due to the fact that there were so few Conservative AMs. 15% of the 8 Conservative AMs is 1 AM and so any candidate to declared (assuming they nominate themselves) was enough to be nominated. After this election, the rules were changed to make 15% of both the PCP and the CCA to be nominated.
Candidates
Declared
- Pete Bus (Backbencher)
- Ludwig Kohl (Minister for Defence; Chancellor of the Authority of Juneville; Former Deputy Prime Minister; Former Minister for the Walkerton Office; Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party)
- Andrea Drum (Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Former Minister for Work and Pensions; Former Chancellor of the Authority of Juneville; Former Home Minister; Former Minister for Food)
Nominations
| Candidate | PCP Nominations | CCA Nominations | Nominated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ludwig Kohl | 4 (50%) | 30 (56.6%) | Yes |
| Andrea Drum | 2 (25%) | 17 (32.1%) | Yes |
| Pete Bus | 2 (25%) | 6 (11.3%) | Yes |
Results
Parliamentary Conservative Party Vote
This vote was held to narrow down the field of candidates from the 3 nominated to the 2 which would go to a vote of the Party Membership. Ludwig Kohl and Pete Bus went onto the vote of the party membership following this stage.
This was the first time the PCP had to hold a second round, due to two of the candidates tying for second place.
Round 1
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Ludwig Kohl | 6 | 75% |
| Andrea Drum | 1 | 12.5% |
| Pete Bus | 1 | 12.5% |
Following this round, due to the fact that no candidates were able to be eliminated another round was held. The most likely reason for this outcome is that the second nominator for both Pete Bus and Andrea Drum abandoned their candidate in the hope that it would eliminate them because they believed that their candidate had no chance - giving them potential to gain favour with the eventual leader (who they believed to be Ludwig Kohl). However, this backfired when both of them attempted this - leading to a scramble.
Round 2
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Ludwig Kohl | 5 | 62.5% |
| Pete Bus | 2 | 25% |
| Andrea Drum | 1 | 12.5% |
Andrea Drum was the last place candidate and so was eliminated from the race.
Membership vote
| Candidate | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pete Bus | 19,394 | 52.15% |
| Ludwig Kohl | 17,794 | 47.85% |
| Total | 37,188 | 100% |
Pete Bus was elected and would serve as Conservative Leader until his resignation following this own electoral defeat in September 3016.