Wanted in PO: A "hard-ass" to keep Ford in check

Succession games

In today’s edition: Premier DOUG FORD rolls out the welcome mat — and Timmies! — for U.S. Ambassador to Canada PETE HOEKSTRA, the committee that vets government appointees is rejigging its calendar again, a well-liked staffer is moving on up in PO — an office that one former PC leader says is in desperate need of a “hard-ass.”

But first: Y’all had some thoughts about yesterday’s poll on potential Ford successors.

After a flurry of write-ins (including one “Ford forever!”) I’m splitting the poll into two parts to give a few more names their shot. Yes, yes, the Premier insists he’s not going anywhere. And yes, he says he’d still win a “supermajority” after eight-plus years in office, even as some polls suggest the bloom is wearing off.

Still, Queen’s Park loves a succession parlour game. So here’s round two of our anonymous, very unscientific, just-for-fun poll: Who should carry the torch?

Ford himself has kept his not-so-stellar polling numbers in the headlines, getting testy with reporter…