Doug Ford has won the race to lead Ontario's Conservatives

Doug Ford, former Toronto city councillor and brother of the late Rob Ford—Toronto’s former mayor who was videotaped smoking crack—has won the race to lead the embattled Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives into the next provincial election.

But in a move that will mean continued conflict within the party, his rival Christine Elliott announced she will not concede defeat.

Ford's win was first reported by CBC News, citing party sources in the afternoon, but was not officially announced until about 10 p.m. on Saturday. The announcement came at the end of a tumultuous day, with Ford winning based on riding points and Elliott, who was seen as the frontrunner, taking the popular vote.

“Tonight we took the first step in defeating Kathleen Wynne,” Ford told media and supporters, with his family by his side.

“I will get our party back on track," he said. "We will put a platform forward that will speak to every Ontarian.”

In a statement released shortly after midnight, Elliott wrote that her campaign had been made aware of "serious irregularities" in the race. Thousands of party members has been assigned to incorrect ridings, wrote Elliott, vowing to "stand up for these members" and "investigate the extent of this discrepancy."

Elliot noted that she won the popular vote, and that of the 12,000 points included in the final calculation, there was a difference of fewer than 150 points between her and Ford.

Earlier, hundreds of frustrated party members attending the leadership event at a Markham, Ontario convention centre were sent home while some ballots were reviewed.

Ford, who has been accused of dealing hash in high school, will lead the PC party into an election in Canada’s most populous province, set for June 7, following the snap resignation of former Conservative leader Patrick Brown in January amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

About 64,000 people voted in the Conservative poll, which officials say is a new record for the party.

Ford stands a good chance of becoming the next premier, with 44 percent of Ontario voters supporting the PC party, versus 24 percent for the NDP, and 19 percent for the governing Liberal Party, according to a poll published by the research group Dart Insight earlier this month.

Ford ran on an explicitly populist platform. During his leadership campaign, he promised to review the province’s sex education curriculum, and questioned why teenage girls don't need to get permission from their parents before getting an abortion. He also promised to eliminate taxes for anyone making less than $30,000 a year, make housing affordable again, and to get rid of Ontario's carbon tax.

The Ford family has been a fixture of Ontario politics since the late 1990s, garnering support from some as straight-talking populists who stand up for taxpayers against government waste, and derision from others for their crude rhetoric and occasionally debaucheros antics.

Rob Ford, the former Toronto mayor and the new PC leader’s brother, made international headlines after he was videotaped smoking crack cocaine with alleged gang members. He died from a rare form of cancer in 2016.