In a shocking move, Pierre Poilievre will not seek the leadership of the federal Tory party..The Ottawa MP was set to formally announce a plan to run for the leadership on Sunday. He already had a campaign team in place but changed his mind..According to the Globe and Mail, Poilievre called former cabinet minister John Baird, who was his campaign chair, and Sen. Leo Housakos, who was going to be a key organizer in Quebec, on Thursday to say his heart was not in it..Poilievre tweeted Thursday afternoon: “I knew it would be hard on my family life to do this. But I did not realize how hard. It is harder still because I had just spent the earlier 18 months campaigning furiously to win back my seat in the recent federal election, I mostly missed the 1st year of our baby’s life..“As such, my heart is not fully engaged in this leadership race. Without being all in, I cannot be in at all. So I have decided not to seek the leadership of the party at this time.”.” I will continue serving the people of Carleton in Parliament. I am not currently supporting any other candidate. But I will be looking for a strong fiscal conservative who will unleash free enterprise so people can achieve their dreams through hard work.”.He is the third high ranking Tory to announce they were not entering the race..Both former Quebec premier Jean Charest and former cabinet minister Rona Ambrose said they are not running..Charest made his announcement to Radio-Canada’s Patrice Roy in an interview airing Tuesday..“I will not be a candidate, it is final,” Charest said to Roy, in an interview which will be broadcast at 5 p.m. (EST) “My heart swayed a lot.”.Rona Ambrose confirmed what has previously been reported, that she will not be running for the leadership either..So far Peter MacKay, a former Tory cabinet minister from Nova Scotia, is the leading announced candidate to run, after current leader Andrew Scheer stepped down in December after failing to defeat Justin Trudeau in the October election..dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter: Nobby7694
