The duty of the opposition is to oppose. As leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, Tim Hudak does it faithfully — to a fault.

The Tory leader never misses an opportunity to oppose the government across the aisle. Now, he is opening up a second front.

The leader of the Official Opposition is targeting his fellow opposition MPPs in the third-place NDP. It’s a conspicuous about-face for the Progressive Conservative leader, who pointedly made common cause with the NDP when the 2011 election produced a minority Liberal government.

Back then, both parties calculated that the enemy of my enemy is my friend — or perhaps my frenemy. But two years on, New Democrats are coming under friendly fire from their former frenemies in the Official Opposition.

The enmity culminated late last month with Hudak firing off an accusatory letter to NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. Released to the media even before she got a copy, the letter excoriates her for being a Liberal enabler instead of backing Tory attempts to topple Premier Kathleen Wynne.

It reads like an impassioned public shaming:

“I remain somewhat astounded,” Hudak begins, “that you and your party ... (are) continuing to prop up the Wynne government by being at its beck and call.”

Such opposition hectoring of the party in power is commonplace. But it is unusual for the Official Opposition to attack the third-place party in written correspondence.

No more flirting with the frenemy. Like a leader scorned, Hudak has taken to unleashing double-barrelled attacks against both Liberals and New Democrats in the legislature:

“Quite frankly, the NDP sold their soul to prop you (Liberals) up,” he complained bitterly. “The Liberals and the NDP have been hand in glove.”

The non-stop needling resumed Sunday when Hudak issued yet another public letter, rebuking Horwath for not replying to his last one:

“People want to know whether ... you have lost your moral compass and will continue to support the Liberal government.” The letter is signed, “Sincerely, Tim Hudak.”

What’s behind the baiting and badmouthing?

The Tories feel betrayed by their Fairweather frenemies. A Hudak strategist says they always assumed Horwath would join hands “when the time came to pull the trigger.”

Yet, after a memorable courtship, the NDP left the Tories on the altar.

“We’re adjusting our strategy to make it as uncomfortable as possible for them to prop up the government,” the Tory aide explained. The goal is to make Horwath “pay a price.”

So far, however, Horwath isn’t hurting from the berating. She has been on a winning streak ever since wielding the balance of power to extract Liberal concessions. Moreover, Horwath has humiliated Hudak on Tory turf, winning byelections in London and Kitchener-Waterloo.

Hudak’s dismal track record (he won but one of the last seven byelections) suggests his scorched earth strategy hasn’t resonated with the grassroots, argues an NDP strategist. Most Tory talking points, from far-right union-bashing to NDP mockery, aren’t gaining traction.

Now Hudak’s stuck. The next opportunity to defeat the government won’t come until a non-confidence vote on next spring’s budget. Until then, as Horwath notes cuttingly, “Mr. Hudak can stand on his head and spit nickels, but it’s not going to create an election in Ontario.”

One vote Hudak is likely to face sooner, however, is a byelection in Niagara Falls. Previously held by the Liberals, the riding includes Hudak’s hometown of Fort Erie and adjoins his own seat, yet the NDP is coming on strong. If the New Democrats snatch yet another byelection victory from Hudak’s grasp, the optics will be awkward.

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A bigger challenge for Hudak is that the next general election could leave him the odd leader out. Public opinion polls suggest no party will eke out a majority, which spells double jeopardy for the Tories: Even if Hudak should win the most seats in a minority legislature, it’s hard to fathom him forging an alliance with either his Liberal enemies or NDP frenemies, given his latest attacks.

Against that gloomy backdrop, what’s a Tory to do? Hudak could, of course, reposition his Progressive Conservatives to occupy more of the centre ground vacated by the emerging Liberal-NDP entente. But the PC leader seems more likely to remain a policy outlier — and a political oppositionist.

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