Former city councillor Doug Ford says he’s planning a return to politics, but consistent with his keep-them-guessing style he won’t say on which ballot his name will appear.

“One hundred per cent I’m coming,” Ford said Friday. “I’m not going to rush into this. I’ll take my time, talk to the people and see what they say.”

Ford says he is considering two options: running as a candidate for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives or face a rematch against Toronto Mayor John Tory in 2018.

Ford was doing a round of media interviews after a Forum Research poll suggested 40 per cent of residents would support Tory in 2018 while 38 per cent would support Ford. Twenty two per cent said they would vote for someone else.

The provincial election is June 7, 2018.

The municipal election is Oct. 22, 2018.

The 52-year-old businessman said he plans to “sit down with some people from different parts of the city, different areas, different communities, and see what they think. We’ll make a decision after that. It’s just an exploratory team.”

If Ford follows his late, namesake father into provincial politics, he would seek the party nomination in Etobicoke North.

On Friday, Ford was fresh from campaigning in Sault Ste. Marie with PC leader Patrick Brown. Considered an NDP-Liberal haven, the Tories captured the seat with 40.4 per cent of the vote. It was the Tories’ latest byelection victory over the Liberals, and bodes well for the party in the future, Ford said.

“I look forward to working with Patrick and helping him move the province forward or have the privilege of serving the people of Toronto as mayor,” he said.

“Doug Ford has been musing about another possible mayoral run routinely since he lost the last election to Mayor John Tory,” Don Peat, the mayor’s director of communications, wrote in an email.

In that election in 2014, Tory captured about 40 per cent of the vote and Ford about 34 per cent. From 2010 to 2014, Ford was Toronto city councillor for Ward 2, Etobicoke North.

“Right now, Mayor Tory is focused on standing up for Toronto and doing the job he was elected to do — building transit, tackling traffic congestion and getting more affordable housing in the city,” Peat said.

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