Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP Tim Hudak was elected the new leader of the provincial Progressive Conservative Party Saturday afternoon. After three ballots at the party convention in Markham, Hudak became the 21st leader of the party.

Hudak had extended his lead over second place candidate Frank Klees in a second ballot Saturday afternoon. After the final ballot was counted, the defeated Klees asked the result be made unanimous for Hudak, according to the convention website.

Hudak, who had been favoured by many to win, won the first ballot by nearly 500 votes. Last place candidate Randy Hiller was dropped from the race and his votes redistributed to the remaining candidates of Klees, Hudak and Christine Elliott based on the second choice of voters.

Hudak won the second ballot with 4.128 votes, while Klees earned 3,299. As the last place candidate, Elliott will drop out with her 2,903 votes being distributed to Klees and Hudak based on the third choice of voters.

Read the full story.