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Charest says he’s not interested in seeking Conservative leadership

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Former Quebec premier Jean Charest waves to the crowd as the Quebec Liberal Party holds a tribute in his honour Saturday, March 16, 2013 at the leadership convention in Montreal. Charest is ruling himself out of the race to succeed Stephen Harper as head of the Tories. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

SHERBROOKE,, – Former Progressive Conservative leader Jean Charest is ruling himself out of the race to succeed Stephen Harper as head of the Tories.

Charest, 57, told Radio-Canada he is happy with his new life and his job as a lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault.

“I will not be a candidate to succeed Mr. Harper,” the ex-Quebec premier said in an email sent from Paris, where he is on business before heading to Asia.

Charest was elected to the Commons in 1984 under Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives before becoming leader in 1993 after he and Elsie Wayne were the party’s only elected members in that year’s vote.

He jumped to Quebec politics in 1998 as leader of the Liberal party before being elected premier in 2003.

Charest held the post for nine years and quit public life in 2012 after the Parti Quebecois defeated the Liberals.

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