Tim Hudak will remain the leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative party.

About 1,600 delegates voted at a leadership convention in Niagara Falls and 78 per cent of them supported Hudak.

Hudak has shouldered much of the blame for the Tories' disappointing showing in the recent provincial election. After eight years as the Opposition, a successful campaign would have returned the party to power.

Still, Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Liberal party formed a minority government for the first time -- and the first in Ontario in 26 years. The Liberals ended up with 53 seats, the PCs with 37 and the NDP with 17 in the Oct. 16, 2011 election.

Richard Ciano, a political strategist, was chosen as party president on Sunday.

"Thank you," Ciano wrote in a brief Twitter message.