Can Ches Crosbie connect? Lawyer soft launching bid for PC leadership

After months of saying he was considering the leadership fo the Progressive Conservative Party, Ches Crosbie will stage a soft launch of his campaign as early as this week, CBC News has learned.

Crosbie started organizing behind the scene after Paul Davis announced in October that he will step down as leader, when the party chooses his successor.

Crosbie is a St. John's lawyer who made his mark through high profile class action lawsuits over moose vehicle accidents, breast cancer testing, video lottery terminals and residential schools

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Sources tell CBC News that Crosbie will go on a "listening tour" of Newfoundland and Labradorin advance of the formal start of campaigning.

It will likely be months before any official campaigning begins.

Tory race not expected any time soon

The party is revamping itsleadership rules, and partypresident Graydon Pelley has told the executive the he wants a special meeting to vote on those rules early in June.

If the rules are adopted then, the earliest possible leadership vote would be in the fall. However, the party could decide to wait until the spring of 2018.

The Liberals gave members and supporters a direct vote in choosing the party'sleader in 2013, when Dwight Ball won a five-way leadership contest.

That campaign helped the Liberals sign up of tens of thousands of new supporters, and galvanazed the base heading into the 2015 election, when the Grits took back power from the Tories.

Pelley saidafter consulting members, it's clear the rules need to change to give more individual Tories a greater say in who becomes leader.

In a letter sent to the party executive, Pelley said thenew leader needs to be in place with enough time to build to the next election, set for the fall of 2019.

"We recognize there is an urgent need to move quickly to complete the amendments so that the leadership selection process can start and enable potential candidates to be aware of the process before the start of their campaigns," Pelley wrote in the letter, a copy of which has been obtained by CBC.

For people considering a run for the leadership, the rules around spending, and who gets to vote, could be key to deciding whether they get in to the race.

Mount Pearl North MHA Steve Kent, who ran for the PC leadership in 2015, said he's strongly considering a run.

Insiders wonderwhether Crosbiecan connect

Crosbie is the son of Tory legend John Crosbie, whose career started on St. John's city council and included high-profile stints in both the provincial and federal cabinets. He also served as Newfoundland and Labrador'slieutenant-governor.

Ches Crosbietried for the federal Conservative nomination in the riding of Avalon in the last federal election but was rejected by the party.

Sources close to the campaign believe the former Rhodes scholar has the intelligence for the job, but the tour will be a test to see whether he can make the personal connection with the public required to win.

The campaign would also boost his profile in the party against better-known contenders, like Kent, a former cabinet minister who has held a seat in the House of Assembly since 2007.