Kathleen Wynne, Ontario Liberal party leader, waves goodbye as she boards her bus following a campaign stop at the Sri Ayyappan Hindu Temple in Scarborough, Ontario on June 3, 2018. (CP/Cole Burston

Kathleen Wynne concedes defeat in upcoming Ontario election

Kathleen Wynne, the current premier and leader of the provincial Liberal Party, conceded defeat on Saturday, acknowledging that voters appear to so strongly dislike her, that she felt she needed “to get out of the way”.

On Saturday, Wynne made the decision to publicly acknowledge that her party could not win a majority and that she would not be premier again.

“I think I did pretty well in the debate”

According to recent poll results Wynne, who became leader in January of 2013, in the wake of huge scandals in her party. She went on to be re-elected in June of 2014 but now, after 15 years in power, the people of Ontario are tired of Liberal rule.

At a news conference early today, Wynne shared the moment she decided to concede, was following the final leader’s debate on May 27th,

“I think I did pretty well in the debate,” Wynne explained this morning during an interview on CBC Radio in Toronto. “But once the debate was over, we didn’t see the numbers move.”

It was this reality, lagging by over 10 points in the polls, that led to her decision. She said, it “meant that we needed to be honest with people that we’re not going to be the government,”

Kathleen Wynne, leader of the Liberal Party, right, has conceded defeat to either Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, left, or Ontario PC Leader Doug Ford centre. (Getty Images)

There have been very mixed reactions to Wynne’s decision, but she remains confident it was the right move. The strategy is to elect enough Liberal representatives to prevent a majority for either of the other two parties, but some people are wondering if the Liberals can even win enough seats to keep their official party status.

They need victories in at least eight ridings of the 108 in Ontario for that, and Kathleen Wynne is fighting hard and intends to win her own riding and will stay in politics.

During a midday news conference she said she would be doing everything she can to “help people to make the best decisions for the largest number of people in the province”.

She said it was evidence of her “practical soul”. By getting out of the way as leader, people could feel free to vote for the Liberal candidate in their riding.

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Andrea Horvath is the candidate for the left-leaning New Democratic Party. She is in second place according to most polls.

Doug Ford, the brother of Toronto’s former notorious mayor, Rob Ford, and the leader of the provincial Conservative Party, is expected to win, but not necessarily with a majority.

Late today it was revealed that Rob Ford’s widow is suing Doug Ford over the estate of her late husband, alleging money was kept from her children, and accusing Doug Ford of being a “negligent” business manager.

Ontario voters will decide this Thursday, June 7th, 2018.

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