Conservative Party leadership election, 2012

The Conservative Party held a leadership election on 14 March 2012. It was triggered after Loygre mayor Alex Foster announced his intention to challenge incumbent leader and former Prime Minister Amelia Pietersen for the leadership on 6 February.

Candidates

• Alex Foster - Mayor of Loygre
• Amelia Pietersen - Incumbent leader and former Prime Minister

Election

There are two groups of electors. The first is comprised of the parliamentary Conservative Party. The second is comprised of ordinary members of the party. A successful candidate is required to receive a majority of the votes of both groups.

After the convention begins, an initial vote will take place. If no candidate receives a majority among both groups of electors, a second round of voting will take place. If no candidate has been elected in the second round, a third round of voting will take place. Beginning with the third round, a candidate will be eliminated after each vote. A weighted average of the percentage of the vote received will be used to determine which candidate is eliminated, with the parliamentary party vote counting for 40% and the membership vote counting for 60% (the weighting is reversed when the Conservative Party is in government). After all but two candidates have been eliminated, there will be up to two further rounds of voting (beginning with the third round if only two candidates are standing). If after these two rounds, no candidate has received a majority of the votes from both groups, a final round of voting will take place. The winner will be determined using the same weighted average used to determine elimination.

Results

Candidate	Round 1
	MP	Mem
Foster	54.2%	57.3%
Pietersen	45.8%	42.7%