Liberal faithfuls are putting their future in the hands of Andrew Furey, the winner of the Liberal leadership race. John Abbott, the only other candidate, is calling for an audit of the voting process but is not contesting the results.
About 21,000 of 34,000 registered voters actually voted. Furey had 26,443 points to Abbott’s 13,557.
Furey was the frontrunner going into the campaign after garnering the support of the entire Liberal Cabinet. He says action has to be taken immediately on the financial challenges facing Newfoundland and Labrador.
The official announcement with vote totals. @FureyAndrew now up speaking. @VOCMNEWS #nlpoli pic.twitter.com/u61Gbg87fC
— Ben Murphy (@VOCMBen) August 3, 2020
Abbott plans to run in the next election for the Liberals. Furey, who does not have a seat, says he will run for the first available seat.
The Legislature will have to sit soon in order to pass a budget.
Furey will be the 14th Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador but not until he is sworn in by the Lieutenant Governor, but he says the work starts tonight and the path will not be easy. Furey says things will now be done differently.
His first step will be to meet with officials in the Department of Finance to see where we are in that regard.
Meanwhile, Abbott congratulated Furey on his victory.
He says he knows Furey worked hard on his campaign. When asked whether he will work with Furey’s government, Abbott says he hopes to have further conversations with Furey to see what transpires.
