Lone London-area Conservative MP calling it quits

Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives will go into the next federal election without their only London-area MP, who’s packing it in after nearly a decade in office.

Article content

Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Karen Vecchio, citing family reasons, says she will serve out her term but not run in the next federal election. Vecchio broke the news Tuesday on radio station 94.1 myFM in St. Thomas.

“Unfortunately, my name will not be on the ballot,” she said. “I believe everyone has an expired date, and I know when it’s time for me to be home.”

Vecchio did not return calls to her office by The London Free Press seeking comment. She’s been the MP for her St. Thomas-area riding that takes in a portion of London since 2015.

The next federal election is expected by October 2025 but could happen before then, with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals ruling in a minority government propped up with the support of the New Democratic Party.

Article content

Vecchio’s departure from federal politics drew disappointed reaction on social media from other MPs, including London North Center Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos.

“One of the kindest, most thoughtful people I’ve ever had the chance to work with,” Fragiskatos wrote on X, the former Twitter. “The House of Commons will be less without her.”

Francesco Sorbara, Liberal MP for Vaughn-Woodbridge, wrote that it’s “disappointing Parliament will be losing such a great MP,” adding Vecchio “is one of the most authentic, hard working and kind MPs you will ever meet.”

Conservative communications director Sarah Fischer, in an emailed statement to The Free Press, called Vecchio “a dedicated member” of the party’s caucus in Ottawa who has “proudly served her community.”

Article content

“We wish her all the best following the next election, as she continues to serve her constituents until then,” she wrote.

Vecchio was first elected in 2015, succeeding then-Conservative MP Joe Preston, who left federal politics and went on to become mayor of St. Thomas, after working as his executive assistant for 11 years.

The Conservatives have held Elgin-Middlesex-London for 20 years, one of seven seats the party holds in the wider 10-riding London region and their only one that includes voters in London.

Preston called Vecchio an “excellent” MP and “one of the most well-respected constituent politicians,” saying she likely did not arrive easily at the decision.

“It’s a decision I had to make once years ago, too, to say a little over 10 years in Parliament is going to be enough for me, and I’m going to move back to my family life and do something different,” he recalled.

Article content

“How much do you give away your family time to serve your country?”

Preston said that similar to his own political style, Vecchio worked to make friends instead of enemies.

Vecchio made headlines earlier this year after she was unceremoniously shuffled out of her longtime post as chairperson of the House of Commons committee on the status of women, a move criticized by some area advocates for women.

The Liberals on the 11-member, all-party committee abstained from the vote for a chairperson, and another Conservative MP — Shelby Kramp-Neuman, of Hastings-Lennox and Addington — was chosen to succeed Vecchio.

Vecchio, who has previously served as the Conservatives deputy house leader, had joined the committee in 2016.

The three-term MP was among a handful of MPs who backed former Quebec premier Jean Charest in the 2022 Conservative leadership contest that Poilievre won in a whopping first-ballot victory.

[email protected]

Article content