Tim Hudak, who campaigned as being “Right For Ontario,” proved himself right for Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives.

Hudak, 41, yesterday won a third-ballot victory at the party’s leadership convention in Markham and immediately vowed to steer the Conservatives back in the right-wing direction of his mentor, former premier Mike Harris.

The victory by the Niagara West-Glanbrook MPP ends seven years of Conservative flirtation with the political centre under former premier Ernie Eves, leader from 2002 to 2004, and John Tory, who led from 2004 until his surprise defeat in a March 5 byelection in Haliburton.

“We must take Ontario down an entirely different path than the one we’re on,” Hudak told hundreds of cheering partisans following his win over MPPs Frank Klees, Christine Elliott, and Randy Hillier with 5,606 electoral votes of 10,250 up for grabs in 107 ridings.

“Our party will be clearly on the side of middle-class families, speaking to their hopes and dreams and as tough as today’s challenges are, I know that Ontario’s best days are yet to come,” said the former Harris and Eves cabinet minister.

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