A familiar face is getting ready to make a return to politics.
The London West Ontario PC riding association has confirmed to AM980 that Ed Holder, the former Conservative cabinet member who represented London West for seven years, plans to run for the nomination.
Riding president Robert T. Anderson confirmed Holder’s intention on Tuesday morning but declined to do an interview until Holder makes it official, likely this week.
Holder was first elected in 2008, unseating longtime Liberal MP Sue Barnes by 2,100 votes. He easily won re-election in 2011 and was named Minister of State (Science and Technology) in 2014 before he was upset by current Liberal MP Kate Young in the 2015 election.
Holder will face competition from Thames Valley District school trustee Jake Skinner for the nomination. Skinner began seeking the London West nomination last year, and when asked if he would step aside for the political veteran, Skinner said that won’t happen.
“We think that our chances of winning are pretty high and we don’t see to bend the knee or anything like that. Personally, it’s going to be a very exciting race — it’s going to be like Ed Holder as the old lion and then our team and myself as the young lion,” he said.
London West is currently represented by New Democrat MPP Peggy Sattler. She won the riding in a 2013 byelection following Chris Bentley’s resignation and subsequently held onto the seat in the 2014 election.
Skinner announced he’d run for the nomination in August 2016 but isn’t upset over how long it has taken the riding to decide on a nominee.
“We would like to have had a nomination done and then I would be the official candidate already but the party has 123 ridings to go through, they still have about 40 per cent more and we just happen to be in the 40 per cent of ridings that haven’t had a nomination meeting yet,” he said.
A date for the nomination meeting hasn’t been set but it could take place before the end of the year.
Holder isn’t the only Stephen Harper-era MP to make a comeback at the provincial level. In April, former London North Centre MP Susan Truppe won the nomination for the Progressive Conservatives.
News of Holder’s impending return to politics comes days after deputy premier Deb Matthews announced she wouldn’t run in next year’s election. Matthews, who has represented London North Centre since 2003, will stay on as the Liberals’ campaign co-chair through the election.
The Liberals haven’t decided who their candidate will be in London West. In fact, following Matthews’ announcement last Friday, the party doesn’t have anyone confirmed to run in London West, London North Centre or London Fanshawe.
The next provincial campaign is slated for June 7, 2018.
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