Getting to know the Conservative Class of 2011

Much has been said, and more will be made, of the NDP Class of 2011.

But let's turn our attention now to the fresh batch of Conservative rookies about to descend on Parliament Hill. After all, it's the star recruits on Team Blue who will emerge as ministers, parliamentary secretaries and majority-side committee darlings.

Between retirements, electoral defeats and other embarrassments, even a Prime Minister who favours incremental change could be filling a lot of roles. Here's a look at some of the faces who seem likely to move into a brighter spotlight.

CHRIS ALEXANDER: The pundits all seem to agree he's one of the safest bets around to jump right in with the big kids. Let's start with the fact that it's hard to imagine a person with his resumé got into politics, and ran as a Conservative specifically, to be a backbencher. Triumphing electorally over Mark Holland, one of the sharpest tongues in the previous Liberal caucus, improves his street cred and validates him as a politician. The only questions with Alexander seem to be: how big? And how fast?

PETER PENASHUE: The first (and only) Conservative elected in Newfoundland and Labrador since the ABC campaign was called off -- and the first Tory elected in Labrador since the '60s -- vaulted into the express lane on Monday night, headed straight for cabinet. His other "first," that of being the only Innu from Labrador ever elected to the House of Commons, makes his opinion at the cabinet table all the more unique and valuable. His somewhat-brave support for the controversial Lower Churchill hydro project, given his own mother campaigned against it, seals the deal.

BERNARD VALCOURT: Valcourt isn't a rookie. He served in the ministries of Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell, and then led the New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Party. As such, he's a far more experienced politician than even some members of Stephen Harper's last cabinet. And that's exactly why he makes this list: his experience. That, plus it's hard to imagine him coming back from retirement to be a backbencher. He's one of the precious few around that future cabinet table who has majority government experience. His track record isn't perfect, but he seems likely to have a shot at redeeming himself in his latest political reincarnation.

EVE ADAMS: Mississauga city councillor Adams has proven her political skills in upsetting the formidable organization of Liberal Navdeep Bains to snatch the Mississauga-Brampton South seat. Her GTA-appeal is nearly perfect: she's a young suburban mom, the daughter of working-class immigrants, and, according to her fans, "scary smart." But it doesn't stop there. Familiarity with Parliament? Check. (She used to be a Parliamentary page.) Fashionable political priorities? Check. (She says she's committed to urban issues, and Harper's going to need help with that policy file.) And support at home? Mega-check. (She and husband (Conservative strategist) Peter Adams are a new Ottawa power couple in the making.) Her articulate, TV-friendly and stereotype-busting image seems tailor-made for a renovated Harper cabinet.

KELLIE LEITCH: For the moment, she's still best recognized as the come-from-away Conservative who beat Helena Guergis in Simcoe-Grey after receiving the help and endorsement of a steady stream of top Tories in the riding. But it shouldn't take her long to have an impact beyond the circumstances of her first win. Her Tory roots are true: Alberta-born, and card-carrying from her youth. It's hard to imagine how this paediatric orthopedic surgeon could continue practicing in either the riding or Toronto's Sick Kids hospital (where she's practiced up to this point), but she's long combined surgery with local volunteerism and significant government advisory work. Another smart and young professional female, representing a mix of urban and small-town/Ontario and Alberta, nicely complements Harper's current stalwarts.

STELLA AMBLER: What happened to longtime Liberal Paul Szabo? Stella Ambler, that's what. Jim Flaherty's "Director of Regional Affairs for the Greater Toronto Area" now joins her boss in the House of Commons. Yet another young professional mother from the 905 belt, Ambler brings small-business experience (she and her husband run an insurance brokerage) and the requisite combination of local volunteering and political resumé-building to the table, including time at Queen's Park during the Harris government in Ontario. Will she take on a junior role in cabinet or as a parliamentary secretary, working with her previous boss on economic files she'd know well? Or will they give her something entirely different to help her broaden her experience?

JOE OLIVER: Sticking with the giant-killer theme... Joe Oliver is the Tory who defeated former Liberal cabinet minister Joe Volpe in Eglinton-Lawrence. It wasn't his first try -- his win built on his previous narrowing of the gap between the Conservatives and Liberals in 2008. But he's more than a dogged campaigner: he's a bilingual lawyer and investment banker with a private sector CV full of distinguished roles, with some community volunteering sprinkled on top. It's hard to argue his experience won't be most helpful on the inside of a cabinet charged with developing a post-Economic Action Plan action plan.

JOHN WILLIAMSON: He may be newly-elected to represent southwestern New Brunswick, but the former head of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation and former (albeit briefly) director of communications for Prime Minister Stephen Harper is heavy on experience in the cut-and-thrust of Ottawa life. He knows his way around the Ottawa press corps, and that expertise alone could argue his case as a potentially strong cabinet spokesman for the government. Add to the mix his solid policy research experience and academic credentials, and Williamson looks like a useful role-player on a team that needs to reorient for a period less about partisan gamesmanship than policy-making in the immediate future.

So there's a start. There's more to say about others too: Anita Neville-slayer Joyce Bateman, the Yukon's Ryan Leef, and a batch of new names and faces from the 905 that also merit some consideration: Chungsen Leung, Corneliu Chisu, Costas Menegakis, and Baljit Gosal. And what will they do with Parm Gill?

In the meantime: who do you think will rise to the top of this competitive class?