Progressive Conservatives are gathering for a policy convention this weekend in London, Ont., to craft a platform for an election expected next spring.

But the official Opposition party, which hopes to unseat Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minority Liberals and return to power after a decade in the political wilderness, is coping with some internal strife.

Here are five things you need to know about the meeting.

1. A move to amend the party constitution so a snap leadership review can be held — thereby challenging Tory Leader Tim Hudak — looks doomed to fail. When the matter is raised on the convention floor Saturday, voting on whether to proceed with the unusual amendment will be done by a show of hands. Even Hudak’s most outspoken critics may be daunted by hundreds of delegates staring them down for undermining the leader.

2. A plan to amend the motion on Hudak to include a review of PC President Richard Ciano is expected to be ruled out of order. Some Hudak loyalists feel Ciano hasn’t been supportive enough of the leader, though the party president insists he’s a strong backer. Ottawa activist Debbie Jodoin’s hope of putting the president on the hot seat seems unlikely to pass muster with the constitutional committee.

3. The meeting comes as Hudak has cracked the whip on his caucus. Last week, he disciplined MPP Randy Hillier (Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington) after an email he sent criticizing PC policy was anonymously leaked to the Star. Hillier, a long-time maverick was demoted as labour critic and replaced by MPP Monte McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.) The week before MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) was sacked as finance critic after the Globe and Mail publicized the fact he received an annual $20,000 allowance because he moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake and was therefore eligible for out-of-town expenses. Shurman was succeeded as shadow treasurer by Vic Fedeli (Nipissing).

4. It’s the first meeting of provincial Tories to include a PC MPP from Toronto since 2003. That’s thanks to MPP Doug Holyday (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) who won an Aug. 1 byelection.

5. The official purpose of the three-day confab at the London Convention Centre is to begin distilling the Tories’ 14 “white papers” of policy proposals into a platform that can be taken to voters in an election many expect next spring.