Dunderdale to announce bid for N.L. Tory helm

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Kathy Dunderdale will officially announce Thursday that she will seek the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, CBC News has learned.

Dunderdale became premier earlier this month after Danny Williams retired from politics, but had said then she would step aside when the party picked a candidate at a convention in 2011.

However, Dunderdale who had been natural resources minister and deputy premier in Williams's government has been under increasing pressure to run for the Tory leadership herself.

Tory sources said the governingPC caucus is expected to endorse Dunderdale. No one else has yet indicated an official interest in succeeding Williams asToryleader.

Leading prospective candidates have withdrawn their names from speculation over the last week, including Finance Minister Tom Marshall, Health Minister Jerome Kennedy, Natural Resources Minister Shawn Skinnerand Education Minister Darin King.

All of the prospective candidates have endorsed Dunderdale.

"There's a certain level of inevitability to all of this," said CBC provincial affairs reporter David Cochrane, who added that although Dunderdale has her critics within the caucus, she is widely respected and can carry the party into the scheduled October 2011 election.

Dunderdale has sought to continue key points of the Williams government, including development of the Lower Churchill megaproject, but she has already shown a different approach on labour relations.

She ordered ministers to settle a 13-month strike involving a small group of support workers on the Burin Peninsula, and later asked ministers to end a nearly two-year negotiation with physicians that concluded last week with ratification of a new pay package.