The position had been held in an interim capacity by Malcolm MacLeod since former leader Richard Hatfield's resignation immediately following the 1987 general election after 17 years in power.

The front-runner for the leadership election was Barbara Baird Filliter, a young lawyer from Fredericton who had recently joined the party.

[1][2] This incident and the following scandals that ensued led to a number of other Tories turning against him,[3] with the party going on to lose all 58 legislative seats in the 1987 election to the Liberals under leader Frank McKenna.

[10] Other politicians considered as potential candidates at the time included Saint John mayor Elsie Wayne, Bud Bird,[9] and David McLaughlin,[10] though none of them ended up running.

Myers expressed support for bilingualism when "applied fairly", adding that "it's not right for people to be denied jobs simply because they can't speak more than one language.

Richard Johnson, a previous president of the party, temporarily ran as a third candidate for three weeks until withdrawing due to "insufficient financial and personal support".