ronaambrose(The Canadian Press)  The federal Conservatives have chosen former health minister and Alberta MP Rona Ambrose as their interim replacement for former leader Stephen Harper.

There were eight candidates in total for the post, which comes with an extra $80,100 in salary, a car and driver and the residence of the official leader of the Opposition — Stornoway.

They included Alberta MP Mike Lake; Diane Finley, Rob Nicholson and Erin O’Toole from Ontario; and Manitoba’s Candice Bergen. Calgary MP Michelle Rempel and Quebec’s Denis Lebel ran on a joint ticket.

A key political task ahead of the new interim leader will be to rebuild the party heading into the eventual formal leadership race, likely still a long way off.

The Conservatives saw their support collapse in last month’s election, losing every seat they held in Atlantic Canada, a lone outpost in the north, dozens of ridings in Ontario and even a few in their stronghold of Alberta.