Try, Try Again? Are Unsuccessful Leadership Contestants Sore Losers?

Elections, even intra-party ones, create winners and losers. A number of recent studies have revealed a 'sore losers' effect among a number of party actors. The evidence suggests that those who support a losing candidate in an internal party election are significantly less likely to remain active and involved in party politics compared to those who supported the winner. Much less, however, is known about the losing candidates themselves. This paper explores whether losing leadership candidates also exhibit a 'sore losers' tendency. Drawing on an original dataset of unsuccessful leadership contestants in three Canadian parties, results reveal that losing leadership candidates do not exit their party en masse but rather they remain generally committed to their party, often seeking re-election during the next general election. The results provide important insight into the behaviour of leadership candidates and provide nuance to the sore losers debate by examining an understudied cohort of party actors: the losing candidates themselves.