Caroline Mulroney is seeking to run as a Progressive Conservative in Ontario's provincial election next year, lending her credentials and family name to Patrick Brown's campaign to unseat Kathleen Wynne's Liberals.

Ms. Mulroney, 43, the oldest of former prime minister Brian Mulroney's four children, announced Wednesday morning that she will seek the Tory nomination in the riding of York-Simcoe, an area north of Toronto. While she hails from a political family – her father's time in office from 1984 to 1993 continues to cast a divisive shadow – Ms. Mulroney's background is largely in finance and law.

The vice-president of a Toronto investment firm and a mother of four, Ms. Mulroney said her decision to run for the party's nomination came from her experience as a working mother and was driven by her desire to bring change to Ontario.

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"As a province, I believe we are at a crossroads. After 14 years of Liberal governments, life has become more difficult for hard-working Ontarians," she said in an announcement on Facebook that was accompanied by a YouTube video. Her office declined The Globe and Mail's request for comment, stating she would only speak with local news organizations.

Ms. Mulroney, who lives in the town of Georgina on Lake Simcoe, is seeking the party's nomination in her local riding, an area that has been strongly conservative for decades. She's gained the endorsement of Julia Munro, the departing Tory incumbent and the longest-serving female MPP in Ontario history.

"Caroline comes to public service with outstanding qualities," Ms. Munro said in a statement. "She is a smart business leader with a knack for building consensus and getting results."

Harvard educated and holding a law degree from New York University, Ms. Mulroney started her career in the 1990s as a financial analyst at Bear Stearns, a global investment bank that collapsed in the 2008 financial crisis. She's worked at a number of financial and legal firms in the United States and Canada since then. She also co-founded a Canadian charity. The former federal Conservative government appointed her to the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority in 2014, a posting criticized by the federal New Democrats as patronage.

Ms. Mulroney first hinted she might pursue a future in politics when she served as the master of ceremonies at the federal Conservative leadership convention in May. Peter Van Loan, her local MP, also endorsed her candidacy. "Caroline is a great listener, she cares, and she wants to build a better future," he said.

No other candidates have come forward to challenge Ms. Mulroney in the nomination vote scheduled for Sept. 10. Her candidacy was welcomed by both Mr. Brown, the PC Party leader, and his campaign chair, Walied Soliman.

"I am thrilled to see such exceptional individuals like [Ms. Mulroney] step up to seek a nomination," Mr. Brown wrote in a tweet after her announcement.

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It's a welcome change for Mr. Brown and the PC Party, who have faced a bruising nomination season with allegations of vote tampering in a number of ridings across the province, a series of lawsuits and a number of resignations by long-time party members. Despite Mr. Brown ceding to pressure and hiring an auditing firm to overlook the nomination process, new allegations have continued to surface.

While Ms. Mulroney has had limited involvement in elected politics, her family has close ties with Mr. Brown. The provincial PC leader's stump speech often mentions his admiration for Mr. Mulroney and credits a letter he received in response to his concerns about acid rain from the then-prime-minister for inspiring him into a life of conservative politics. Mr. Mulroney has also spoken with the PC caucus at Mr. Brown's invitation.

With the next Ontario election scheduled for June, 2018, Mr. Brown is ahead of Premier Kathleen Wynne in the polls. The Premier has suffered from significant public discontent over her party's handling of electrical prices in the province and other affordability issues, including housing. If Ms. Mulroney wins her party's nomination, it is unclear who she would face in the general election as the Liberal and New Democrat candidates have yet to be nominated.