The vote was conducted among members of the party's directorate rather than by all members of the party, and this hurt Gauthier's legitimacy.

Gauthier's lack of profile resulted in some opposition parties mocking him as being the "faceless leader" of the opposition and not up for such a high profile job, as he was largely a political unknown in most of Canada and even in his native Quebec. His leadership was unpopular with the caucus due to his alleged conservative views in a left wing party, and his