Pope was a prominent figure behind Frank Miller's campaign to succeed Davis as party leader. Some regarded his presence in Miller's camp as unusual since Miller's supporters tended to be older figures from the party's right wing. Pope nonetheless proved an effective campaigner for Miller by compiling much-needed polling data and devising strategies for Miller's supporters at the party convention. One strategy was to have some of Miller's delegates vote for the progressive Larry Grossman on the second ballot, which resulted in the narrow elimination of the centrist Dennis Timbrell (that was considered strategic voting as Timbrell was considered a greater threat than Grossman). Miller narrowly defeated Grossman on the third ballot to become party leader, and Pope was promoted to Minister of Health on February 8, 1985. It was under Miller's leadership, however, that the Progressive Conservative Party lost its 42-year grip on power. Miller was reduced to a fragile minority government in the 1985 provincial election and proved unable to sustain his party in power. Pope was named Attorney General of Ontario in a post-election shuffle on May 17, 1985 but did little of significance before Miller's government was defeated on a motion of non-confidence in the house by the Liberals and the NDP. He resigned his portfolio on June 26, 1985 and moved into the opposition benches. Leadership campaign Pope ran to succeed Miller as leader in the November 1985 Progressive Conservative leadership convention. His campaign was weaker than expected, however, as many considered Miller's rightward shift a key factor in the party losing power. Furthermore, one of his campaign staff was caught polling party members as to whether religion would make a difference in the leadership race, which was seen by some as a reference to Larry Grossman's Jewish background, and Pope made a public apology. Pope also broke with John Thompson, his first campaign manager, fairly early in the race. At the November leadership convention, Pope made a dramatic entrance by delivering a rousing speech surrounded by his "grassroots" delegates on the convention floor, rather than from the podium. That foreshadowed future leadership speeches by figures such as Jim Flaherty. Pope also tried to portray himself as a unifying figure in the party and noted that the animosity between frontrunners Grossman and Dennis Timbrell was threatening to tear the party asunder (one of his campaign buttons read, "Don't take sides, take Pope".) In spite of