Leadership hypotheticals are always speculative, but they’re not pointless. Political leadership is about more than brand management or media presence, it’s the centre of the coalition, the public face of a movement, and often the determining factor in voting behaviour.
That’s why we conducted a survey of 2,922 Canadian adults between October 24 and 29, 2025, for the Toronto Star, exploring what might happen if Pierre Poilievre were no longer leading the federal Conservative Party. Would voters be more or less inclined to support the party? Are there other Conservative figures who might perform better in an election? And what does all this say about the shape and limits of the Conservative coalition today?
