Grimes to stay on as Liberal leader

Roger Grimes says he will stay on as leader of the provincial Liberal party until at least 2006.

Liberal delegates voted against holding a leadership race at their annual convention this weekend in Gander.

Grimes says he will use the next two years to get the party ready for the next election, and then make a decision about his future.

"It's not a matter of what's in my best interest," he says.

"We need to be positioned to be a real alternative that people will consider seriously in this next election."

Grimes says while he got a vote of support of 76 per cent from the delegates in Gander, he will step down if public opinion polls show that he won't be able to defeat Danny Williams and the Conservatives.

"If the parties are close and it looks like you have a chance and if the leadership is still a very, very big gap, then what I need to do in the best interest of the Liberal party is to make sure that we've got someone else," he says.

Until then, Grimes say he will focus on rebuilding the party, reducing its debt, and recruiting candidates.