Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose earlier this week announced she's leaving politics this summer.

Foothills MP John Barlow says he wasn't surprised.

"I think many of us sort of suspected this was coming once a new leader was elected," he says. "I know I didn't expect her back in the fall but it's a a big loss for us, she's done an incredible job."

He says Ambrose said when she took over she wanted to make the Conservatives one of the most effective oppositions in Canadian history and Barlow feels she's done that.

"She had an incredibly strong team around her but she put us in a position to be successful and to shine," Barlow says. "She knew the team she had around her, she was always there as a good mentor and a good sounding board."

Barlow has thrown his support behind Andrew Sheer, a Saskatchewan MP, in the race for the party leadership.

The Conservatives will choose a new leader May 27.