Candice Bergen is now the interim leader of the Federal Conservative party.

A Manitoba MP since 2008, the former Stephen Harper cabinet minister was chosen by her fellow Conservative members of parliament Wednesday night, finishing first among nine candidates.

The conversation now turns to the next Conservative leader who will succeed Erin O’Toole, ousted yesterday by his caucus in a secret ballot vote of 73 to 45.

“If I were a Conservative and I were looking for a new leader, I would look widely outside,” explained former NDP Strategist and Crisis Communications Consultant Robin Sears to Zoomer Radio’s Fight Back with Libby Znaimer, who also outlined the qualities needed to bring Conservatives together, “A good healing politician who may not be nationally prominent, but isn’t implicated in the bloodletting on one side or the other. I don’t think anyone from inside the civil war is going to be able to position themselves as a healer and an igniter.”

The contest to select the next permanent leader will be the third leadership race for the Conservatives since Stephen Harper resigned following their election loss in 2015.

On the list of inside potential contenders are longtime Ottawa area MP Pierre Poilievre and former leadership hopeful and rookie MP Leslyn Lewis.