Former Alberta finance minister Ron Liepert will be the federal Conservative candidate for 2015 in the new riding of Calgary Signal Hill.

Liepert has defeated six-term backbencher MP Rob Anders for the nomination. The Conservatives will not release the margin of victory but say out of 3,250 eligible party members, 2,400 voted.

Liepert is the former finance minister for the Alberta Progressive Conservatives and Anders has been MP for the area for 17 years but the creation of new federal ridings in 2012 meant Anders would have had to win the nomination vote in order to stand as the Tory candidate in Signal Hill.

Anders will continue to serve as MP for Calgary West until the next federal election is called and it's not yet clear whether he will rule out running for the Tory nomination in another riding.

Anders had characterized his battle with Liepert as a fight for the soul of the Conservative Party.

anders and liepert

Ron Liepert, left, had challenged six-term MP Rob Anders for the Conservative nomination in the new riding of Calgary-Signal Hill. (CBC)

Two weeks ago, he accused Liepert of signing up a list of "temporary Tories" to hijack the nomination battle and released three of their names during a scrum with reporters.

CBC News later learned one of those was a case of mistaken identity and Anders issued an apology to both women involved in the mix-up.

Anders was also scolded by the Conservative Party at the same time for what they say were misleading phone calls that left the impression members of Anders' campaign were calling from Liepert's campaign.

The chastising came after Liepert lodged a complaint with Elections Canada about the calls to party members.