Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to his supporters after losing the Canadian Federal Election on April 29, 2025 in Ottawa, Canada.Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
An Alberta Conservative MP is giving up his seat to allow party leader Pierre Poilievre to run in a by-election for a chance to return to Parliament.
Damien Kurek, who was re-elected in Battle River–Crowfoot on Monday with nearly 82 per cent of the vote, announced his decision Friday.
Mr. Poilievre lost the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton to the Liberals in Monday’s election. It was an upset that sent shockwaves through the party and dulled some of their jubilation at increasing their seat count overall and their share of the popular vote – though they failed to defeat the Liberals.
So far, Mr. Poilievre has not commented publicly about the loss of his own seat.
Opinion: Why the Conservatives should dump Poilievre – but won’t
Mr. Kurek said what’s best for Canada is to have Mr. Poilievre in the House of Commons to hold the Liberal minority to account. He said he intends to run again in the next election in his riding.
“Although it will be hard to temporarily step away from this role, in this region I love and have always called home, the mandate given to me is one that clearly states that change is needed,” he said in a statement.
“Offering this seat to our Party Leader is an important step in that process.”
Mr. Poilievre said in a post on X that he has accepted the offer “with humility and appreciation.”
“Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise,” he said. “I will work to earn the trust of the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot and I will continue to hold the Liberal minority government to account until the next federal election, when we will bring real change to all Canadians.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier Friday that he’d trigger a by-election to allow Mr. Poilievre to run for a seat as soon as possible.
Emily Williams, a spokesperson for Mr. Carney, said there were no further updates to his previous comments after Mr. Kurek announced he would step aside.
The leadership of the Progressive Conservatives pivoted under similar circumstances in 1983, when Central Nova Member of Parliament Elmer MacKay stepped aside so that Brian Mulroney could run in a by-election.
Unlike Mr. Poilievre, Mr. Mulroney was a relatively fresh face to electoral politics as an executive at a large Canadian steel firm who had placed third in a 1976 leadership race.
“I’m not trying to be altruistic here, but I did it for the general good of the party,” said Mr. MacKay, 88, who later became a long-time member of Mr. Mulroney’s cabinet. “There were a lot of people who put their political futures on the line, including me, but we ultimately won and as you know Brian turned out to be a very good leader and a very good prime minister.”
Mr. Mulroney handily won the Central Nova seat and went on to replace Joe Clark as the Leader of the Opposition. The following year, he led the party to a landslide victory and a second majority government in 1988, largely fought on the single issue of a free trade deal with the United States. That deal was later extended to include Mexico as the North American free-trade agreement (NAFTA) and came into force in 1994, after Mr. Mulroney quit and his party was nearly wiped out in the 1993 election. This agreement was renegotiated in U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term and became the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA).
From his home in Hopewell, N.S., Mr. MacKay said he feels strongly about Mr. Poilievre’s potential to lead the country, much like he did about Mr. Mulroney. “I think he has the stuff. I think he has the proper attitude. He’s intelligent, but most of all he’s a patriot. He wants to do what’s good for the country.”
Now that Mr. Poilievre has a riding to run in for a by-election, Mr. MacKay said it will help resolve some of the questions about his future. “It’s a sign of resolve and determination, getting on with the job, not being deterred by the loss of his seat,” he said.
“It’s great that he’s been able to step back into the arena as quickly as he has.”
The Conservative caucus is planning to meet next Tuesday to discuss the party’s defeat. A decision is also expected in the coming days about who will replace Mr. Poilievre as Official Opposition leader – though he is still party leader, without a seat he can’t lead the party in the House of Commons.
Party insiders are pointing to former leader Andrew Scheer and deputy party leader Melissa Lantsman as potential contenders for the job.
On Friday, Mr. Carney also said that Parliament would be recalled on May 26, with King Charles delivering the Speech from the Throne the next day.
With reports from Robert Fife
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the 1988 federal election had trade with the U.S. as an issue and that former prime minister Brian Mulroney quit before the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect in 1994.