Rana Bokhari wins Manitoba Liberal leadership race

Rana Bokhari will succeed Jon Gerrard as the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party.

The Manitoba Liberals have a new leader. Lawyer Rana Bokhari was elected by a slim margin on the first ballot at the Liberals’ leadership convention at the Fort Garry Hotel on Saturday.

Bokhari won the leadership on the first ballot, beating Dougald Lamont, her closest rival, by 173 votes.

Bob Axworthy finished third.

As news sunk in that she won the leadership, Bokhari ran from the stage to embrace her parents.

"I know in their minds what they're thinking right now, and I know in their hearts how proud they are,” said Bokhari. “They're like any other parents. You know they want to see their children succeed and they've never left my side. It's a very emotional time for all my family."

The announcement sent Bokhari supporters into a frenzy. "She's new blood for the party and I feel that she can raise everything up in our party here,” said Valerie Wolbert.

Bokhari says her first task is to increase membership and donations for the party, and that will be the foundation for getting more seats in the legislature.

"It's individual by individual,” she said. “You have to meet with people, you have to talk to people, you have to listen to what they're saying, you have to engage them in conversation."

As Bokhari attempts to move the party forward, outgoing leader Jon Gerrard remains their only sitting MLA. Although he's stepping down as leader, he hasn't indicated what his future plans are.

"The decision in terms of whether I run in the next election is not yet made and we'll just take that in due course," said Gerrard.

With Gerrard potentially running in River Heights, the seat he has held since 1999, Bokhari is, for the moment, a leader without a safe riding in the next election.

“Right now it's just not a concern for me,” she said. “We have two years to the next election and we have two years to focus and rebuild.”

Bokhari says she knows she has a lot of work to do to rebuild the Liberal brand in Manitoba, but with two years to go before the next provincial election, she's confident she has the time to do it. She says she signed 600 new members to the Liberal party during the leadership campaign, and hopes to carry that momentum forward.

- With a report by Ben Miljure