President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada Brian Mulroney, along with former Bay Street investment executive Michael Wilson and sports owner Peter Pocklington, gained support among the pro-business faction of the party.

Quebec played a major role in the leadership election, as Crosbie and Wilson's chances of victory were hampered by their inability to speak French.

While Clark was credited with uniting the PCs after the difficult years under the leadership of Robert Stanfield and with leading the party to victory in the 1979 federal election, the opposition defeated his government over a divisive austerity budget.

Though the approach began to pay some dividends, including favourable attention in Quebec after the patriation of the Canadian constitution, opponents remained prominent in the party and the national media.

Clark's efforts to broaden the party's ideological reach were generally seen as making him weaker in traditional conservative bedrocks such as Western Canada and rural Ontario.

Michael Wilson, 46, MP for Etobicoke Centre, Ontario, was a well-respected Bay Street banker and had been Minister of State for International Trade in Clark's government.

David Crombie, 47, MP for Rosedale since 1978, had been a popular Mayor of Toronto prior to entering federal politics and served as Minister of Health and Welfare in Clark's cabinet.

[4] Granted the same nationally televised 25 minutes as the other candidates for his convention address, Fraser engaged in a bizarre speech that likened Confederation to a blood transfusion to Quebec.

Associations controlled their own nomination procedures, so delegate selection meetings were held sporadically throughout the country, concluding by the end of April.

Quebec riding associations, which had tended to be inactive between elections, were overrun with Clark and Mulroney organizers in short order and many held votes within the first week of the campaign with set delegate slates.

[9] Most infamously, a CBC TV report showed a bus full of obviously intoxicated men from a homeless shelter travelling to vote for Mulroney in Montreal.

The energy issue created an open feud between them during Clark's 1979-80 PC government and had significantly undermined his attempts of offering more conciliatory federal-provincial relations as a selling point of the party.

[12] The remarks angered Davis and his "Big Blue Machine" campaign team, which began to create a national structure and solicit positive responses throughout the party hierarchy, including most PC Premiers.

[15] The caucus meeting was referred to by candidates as an "inquisition" and seen as using provincial government resources for an internal party election at the federal level, though only Wilson refused to attend.

Media coverage emphasized the pro-business and neo-liberal rhetoric of most of the candidates as a "changing of the guard" within the PC Party from their more classical conservative and moderate elements.

The Mulroney campaign responded by continuing its pro-business line, but attacking Crosbie's proposal for a free trade agreement and championing their candidate's bilingualism to find a middle ground between delegates.

Crosbie's free trade proposal found a surprisingly large following with the traditionally protectionist Progressive Conservatives, even among delegates who didn't support him.

Even after the initial delegate contests, Clark continued to win over general Quebec public and intellectual opinion for his positions on constitutional reform and decentralization.

Crosbie's campaign hit a major snag, however, when he snapped at a news reporter in Longueuil for raising his unilingualism, saying that he would still be able to understand Quebec issues, as his lack of French was similar to not speaking German or another language.

[20] Pocklington's campaign gained ample media attention due to his high-spending lifestyle, ideological fervour, and a foiled kidnapping plot involving his wife.

It was hampered by the fact that his professional hockey team, the Edmonton Oilers, were in the Stanley Cup playoffs and he insisted on taking trips to Long Island, which angered potential supporters.

[26] Wilson's campaign relied on an appeal to moderate Ontario delegates, who had desired a Davis candidacy, as a safe alternative to the more polarizing personalities.

[27] Despite ideological differences, Pocklington, Crombie, and Wilson were all on good terms throughout the campaign, with some speculation that if either of their delegate numbers were respectable, the three candidates could mount a movement together, influencing the outcome.

[29] Gamble and Fraser's presence on the first ballot allowed the more popular candidates the opportunity to assess their delegate numbers and plan without fear of being automatically eliminated.

Gamble had indicated his willingness to drop out prior to the first ballot and endorse another candidate, but none was willing to meet his demand of a cabinet seat in a prospective Tory government, and the 17 delegates he earned gave him no real bargaining power after the fact.

[29] Clark's first ballot showing was considered strong, and seemed to forestall the possibility of his delegates dispersing in great numbers to other camps, which the Crombie and Crosbie campaigns had pinned their hopes on.

[35] During the live television broadcast, Newfoundland Premier Brian Peckford was shown attempting to persuade Clark to drop out and endorse Crosbie to head off a Mulroney victory.

[36] Crosbie finished last on the third ballot and, while he preferred Mulroney, he declined to endorse a candidate out of deference to Clark, who had appointed him Finance Minister four years before.

The general consensus was that Mulroney had become the choice of delegates due to his perceived ability to return the party to government, rather than the ideological or personal attachments that Clark and Crosbie's candidacies inspired.

In sharp contrast, Gamble lost his seat at the election, and was later expelled from the party in 1988 after running as an independent against the official PC candidate in Markham.