London-Fanshawe flips Conservative as nearly 2-decade orange wave ends
For the first time in its history, London-Fanshawe will have a Conservative voice in Ottawa as newly elected Kurt Holman took home an unexpected win, uprooting nearly two decades of NDP reign in the east-end riding.
Despite the Tories falling short of forming government, Holman won with more than 23,500 votes, defeating NDP incumbent Lindsay Mathyssen, who has represented the riding since 2019.
"This win isn't just for me; it's for the citizens of London-Fanshawe, and I feel it's fantastic because even though it may be a Liberal minority government, I still feel that London-Fanshawe will have a better position at the table, compared to a third party status of the NDP," said Holman.
It was an emotional loss for NDP incumbent Lindsay Mathyssen, who came in third place on Monday with just over 15,900 votes. The Liberal's Najam Naqvi finished second with nearly 17,600 votes.
"I'm so proud of all the work that we did. This was a tough campaign, but I've always been taught that we have to respect voters' choice, and we'll just continue to fight because people need New Democrats," said a teary-eyed Mathyssen, following her concession speech.
"We did incredible things that I have seen firsthand, so it has been the honour of my life to be the MP for the last five-and-a-half years, and that service to the community means so much to me, so I'm just so very proud of my team as well."
The riding, which was established in 1997, has been an orange stronghold since 2006 when it was won by Mathyssen's mother, Irene Mathyssen. The NDP upset continued throughout the country as the party lost all but four seats, including its leader Jagmeet Singh, who announced he will step down as the party's head.
The riding was important for the NDP, but early polls indicated a close race between Mathyssen and Naqvi. Both Singh and Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney spent the final stretch of their campaigns in London on Friday, hoping to take the seat which has now turned blue.
When asked what this means for the NDP, Mathyssen said the party will conduct a campaign debrief and think about what the future holds. She said threats from U.S. President Donald Trump caused many residents to vote strategically.
"I was the only one who would defeat the Conservative to hold together, but the impact of Trump and the people going through that honeymoon phase with Carney allowed the Conservative to come up the middle," she said.
"It's hard, but I do have to respect the voters' choice in this, so we'll just live to fight another day. We just have to pick up the pieces after tonight and figure out how we rebuild."
Holman, a long-time Londoner with an IT management background, has volunteered with numerous community groups. Despite his victory, Holman said it wasn't an ideal outcome for the Conservatives, who, up until a few months ago, were poised to form a majority government.
Holman said the main issues he heard from constituents were concerns about the cost of living and increasing crime, which he plans to tackle as his top priority in Ottawa.
"I will admit, I was hoping for a Conservative majority, but I am excited with the opportunity to represent the people of London-Fanshawe as their Conservative Member of Parliament and work with everyone in Ottawa to make Canada a better country than it is now and also to help make London-Fanshawe a better riding than it is now," he said.
cbc.ca
