Christine Elliott agrees to Doug Ford's Ontario PC leadership victory, congratulates winner

Elliot has also congratulated winner Doug.

Elliott had initially disputed the result of the leadership race.

In a statement, Elliott said: "The pace of this Ontario PC leadership race has been rapid and there have been a number of unexpected turns along the way. That is why our team took the last twenty-four hours to review the results of an election that was incredibly close."

"After completing my review, I am confident in the results. I extend my congratulations to Doug Ford on a hard-fought campaign," she added.

The runner-up Elliott had earlier said she won't concede and that there were "serious irregularities" in the race.

In her statement, Elliott said that thousands of PC members were assigned to incorrect riding and that she won the popular vote.

"I will stand up for these members and plan to investigate the extent of this discrepancy," Elliot said.

Ford reportedly thanked his supporters and his family, including his brother and former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, who died in 2016.

In a statement on Saturday, congratulating Ford on his victory, Toronto Mayor John Tory said: "will be reaching out to Mr. Ford to arrange a meeting to discuss Toronto's needs."

The leadership race had begun after the resignation of Patrick Brown as the PC leader following the allegations of sexual harassment hurled against him.

Though Brown too had joined the race, he later withdrew himself from the contest.

The leadership race had turned out to be crucial for the PC as it is heading towards the poll in June 7.

(Reporting by Suman Das)