Craig Westcott will represent the Conservatives in St. John's East in the Oct. 14 general election. (CBC)

A journalist who has often been a thorn in Danny Williams's side will represent the federal Conservatives in St. John's East, in part to challenge the Newfoundland and Labrador premier.

Craig Westcott, who publishes the Business Post newspaper and who is a commentator for CBC Radio, said he made the decision last week over Williams's "anyone but Conservative" platform, in which the premier is encouraging Newfoundland and Labrador voters to boycott Conservative candidates in the Oct. 14 election.

Williams has been furious with Prime Minister Stephen Harper since 2006, when Harper walked away from written election promises to exclude non-renewable resources — which include Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore energy reserves — from the equalization formula.

Westcott, who has sparred with Williams for years, said voters should be careful about the consequences of following Williams's advice on the so-called ABC campaign.

"Who is going to speak for Newfoundland and Labrador if we have nobody inside that government?" Westcott said before officially declaring his candidacy on Monday.

"It's just — I think it's unconscionable on the premier's part to put Newfoundland in that very, very weak position," said Westcott, who nonetheless said his campaign will be based on running for the Conservative Party of Canada, not against Danny Williams.

Williams, who led his Progressive Conservatives to a landslide victory in last October's provincial election, has vowed to deliver a "big goose egg" to the federal Tories.

In part because of Williams's ABC campaign, federal Conservatives have been unable to find candidates in some ridings, including in St. John's East, currently held by retiring Tory Norm Doyle.

In fact, Westcott did not make a decision about running until he interviewed Doyle last Thursday.

"And then there was this big pregnant pause, this moment, where, you know, we both kind of realized that I would be a good candidate for this federal election," said Westcott.

A former reporter with the St. John's Telegram, Westcott has often written critically of Williams and his governing style at the Business Post, as well as with regular radio commentaries. He said he had been considering a political run for a while, and made the decision after no one else stepped forward.

"A vote for the ABC campaign is a vote to isolate ourselves from the rest of Canada for the next four years," Westcott told a news conference Monday.

Jack Harris expected to seek NDP nod

Westcott will face Liberal candidate Walter Noel, a former provincial cabinet minister.

The New Democrats have not yet nominated a candidate in the riding, although former provincial NDP leader Jack Harris — who represented St. John's East in the House of Commons for a year after winning a 1987 byelection — is expected to seek the party's nomination.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have lined up a candidate for the adjacent riding of St. John's South-Mount Pearl, which is represented by retiring Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn.

Merv Wiseman, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture, told a small audience in Mount Pearl on Monday afternoon that it is time to move past the equalization wars that have dominated politics in Newfoundland and Labrador for several years.

"We have to go forward," he said. "Notwithstanding arguments, legitimate or otherwise, we have to move forward."

Westcott is not the only St. John's journalist running in the general election. Ryan Cleary, editor of the St. John's Independent, which closed this summer, is seeking the NDP nomination in St. John's South-Mount Pearl. Environmental activist Fred Winsor is also seeking that nomination.