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Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole says among the findings of a new report highlighting the party’s 2021 election campaign missteps, was that he was “too scripted” in the final days and communicating with voters stationed in a TV studio proved ineffective.
According to Cumming, it looked at everything from party infrastructure to the leader’s performance. More than 400 people were interviewed, including candidates, campaign managers, electoral district associations, party members, activists, and others.
“[The] review of what went right, what went wrong and its recommendations – some of those relate to me. Leadership starts at the top. There were areas I fell short, including especially in the last 10 days,” said O’Toole.
O’Toole leaned heavily into communicating with voters virtually throughout the five-week period, taking questions and delivering announcements from the studio set up in Ottawa where he hosted 17 ‘teletownhalls.’
“The studio cut me off from meeting more Canadians. We were told that we should have been doing more events,” he said.
“I want to get out there and meet more Canadians in person not in a studio and not on Zoom, so I’m as frustrated as so many Canadians working from home, working virtually.”
The Conservatives failed to increase their seat count in 2021 and lost votes in key western ridings where support is usually steady.