Michael Taube: How Poilievre can regain his lost political momentum

Pierre Poilievre is surely looking forward to what 2026 will bring. But while the new year may still be in its infancy, there are two pressing matters he needs to deal with right off the bat.

First, he faces a mandatory leadership review at the Conservative Party’s national convention in Calgary from Jan. 29-31. A few left-leaning political commentators have attempted to turn this into a big deal. They point to a Dec. 11, 2025 Angus Reid Institute survey that showed only 58 per cent of “recent Conservative voters” want him to stay on as leader in the next election. That survey doesn’t tell the whole story, however. There’s a big difference between the views of loyal Conservative party members, who are strongly behind Poilievre, and the unreliable, ever-shifting allegiances of Canadian voters. The former group, and not the latter, will ultimately decide Poilievre’s fate.

Poilievre will likely end up with around 80 per cent support at the convention, if not more. He will then face a second and more daunting task: how to regain his lost political momentum.

Several Conservative commentators and activists have made their views widely known on this subject. Kory Teneycke told CBC News last March that he should stop being “negative all the time,” which makes it “hard to be liked by the public,” and place more “emphasis on a positive message.” Peter White wrote in an April 1, 2025 Globe and Mail op-ed that Poilievre should pivot from “gladiator to statesman,” which wouldn’t mean “surrendering his convictions,” but rather “elevating them” by speaking “not to the frustrations of the people, but to their aspirations.” Postmedia’s Tasha Kheiriddin noted in a Dec. 25, 2025 column that his biggest challenge would be “to rally the troops with carrots, not sticks — and try and prevent future defections.”

I posited a simpler strategy in a National Post column last April: “keep on the same path, albeit with minor tweaks.” A leopard can’t change its spots, as the old proverb goes, and it generally fits within the realm of politics. It wouldn’t be difficult for Poilievre to make small adjustments when it comes to appearance, character, demeanour, leadership style and so forth. If these adjustments were either too different, or too obvious, most party loyalists and voters would be able to see right through them. Poilievre has built a reputation in politics over two decades that combines intelligence, combativeness, strong oratorical skills and an ideological outlook on politics and society. Transforming himself into something less than the genuine article would make him far less appealing as a potential prime minister. Win or lose the next election, he has to take Frank Sinatra’s advice to heart and do it his way.

I would suggest using forward-thinking conservatism as a model. In other words, a modern conservatism that defines what it can be and should be, as opposed to what others want it to be. My definition was loosely drawn from Gerald Russello’s provocative discussion in a November 2012 post for The Imaginative Conservative about the “decidedly forward-thinking” position of the philosopher Russell Kirk. While viewed as a reactionary in some conservative circles, Russello argued that Kirk was forward thinking in that he was “already arguing that liberalism was dead; the age that was to replace it — what he called the age of the Image — was upon us, and the true battle was for the imagination.”

Poilievre’s leadership fits within Kirk’s ideological worldview surprisingly well. He reimagined Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher’s shared belief that small government, lower taxes and more individual rights and freedoms can lead to greater success and prosperity in countries like Canada. He also reimagined elements of successful right-leaning Canadian leaders, including Sir John A. Macdonald (Conservative support for national growth and unity), Brian Mulroney (building a big Conservative tent that includes Red Tories, Blue Tories and others), Preston Manning (combining Conservatism with populism) and Stephen Harper (incremental conservatism to help build a Conservative Canada). Then he put his own stamp on it, combining Conservative principles with issues that Conservatives have traditionally shied away from: affordable housing, reducing the influence of “gatekeepers” in society, high costs of food and electricity and cryptocurrency.

That’s the secret to Poilievre’s previous success in polls and surveys. It wasn’t simply because Justin Trudeau was prime minister and Canadians wanted to get rid of him, although that helped. It was more related to Poilievre’s ability to imagine a Conservative version of Canada that was more viable and tangible than the Liberal version that Trudeau and later Mark Carney peddled. Non-traditional Conservative voters, including blue collar workers, young people, women and independents, gravitated towards it. If U.S. President Donald Trump and his tariff battle had never materialized, Poilievre would be prime minister today.

Hence, Poilievre needs to fight the battle for the imagination of Canadian voters once more. He should focus on rebuilding Canada-U.S. relations, emphasizing border security, supporting trade liberalization and healthier free markets, expressing clear support for Israel, and critiquing the rise of North American-style socialism in New York City (Zohran Mamdani) and Seattle (Katie Wilson). He should take the lead on issues that will likely become significant matters, including: protecting free speech, monitoring the growth of artificial intelligence, supporting enhanced market choice for telecommunications, ending supply management for the dairy industry — and more.

That’s how Poilievre and the Conservatives can think forward in 2026, and resist the temptation of looking backwards.

National Post