Conservative newcomer Philip Lawrence earning a surprising victory in Northumberland-Peterborough South in Monday’s federal election.
Lawrence won what was initially a back-and-forth affair with Liberal incumbent Kim Rudd. The political rookie garnered nearly 40 per cent of the 68,268 votes cast in 294 polls. Rudd’s 24,706 votes was 36.2 per cent of the votes in the rural riding.
The NDP’s Mallory MacDonald was a distant third, receiving 9,482 votes (13.9 per cent), followed by the Green Party’s Jeff Wheeldon (5.417 votes or 7.9 per cent) and Frank Vaughan of the People’s Party of Canada (1,445 votes or 2.1 per cent).
Notable for Rudd was the drop in votes after receiving 27,043 (42.51 per cent) in the 2015 election, ahead of Conservative Adam Moulton who had 25,165 votes (39.56 per cent).
The riding includes Northumberland County, southern Peterborough County (Asphodel-Norwood and Otonabee-South Monaghan townships) and the eastern half of the Municipality of Clarington, encompassing a population of 112,412.
Formerly Northumberland-Quinte West, the newly named riding for the 2015 election was created following the redistribution of electoral boundaries in 2012 that saw Quinte West shift to a new Prince Edward-Quinte West riding. The riding was a Conservative stronghold from 2006 to 2011 as Rick Norlock won three elections, defeating Rudd in the 2011 election.