There are indications that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre may force a byelection by running in another riding to gain a seat in the House of Commons.

Poilievre lost his own seat in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton, yet despite the loss, he’s indicated that he intends to stay on as party leader.

Campbell Clark of the Globe and Mail’s Ottawa bureau says without a seat, staying on as leader will present Poilievre with a number of difficulties.

“Winning a seat has always been pretty important to him” says Clark, “he will take that personally, you know that he does.” Without a seat as party leader, Poilievre will no longer be able to stay at Stornoway, the residence of the leader of the official Opposition, and he will have to lead his party outside the House of Commons where his caucus meets every day.

Clark says it’s expected that Poilievre will ask one of his elected MPs to step down to allow him to run, but there is risk in that as well.

“I would say that Mr. Poilievre is safe for now, but we don’t know how long that’s going to last.”