Mayor Holder says 'health impacts' influenced decision to not seek re-election
Mayor Ed Holder will not be seeking re-election this fall and will retire from politics.
His decision whether or not to seek another term changed during a month-long recovering from a medical procedure.
“I had intentions to run, and then when your health gets impacted you start to say, ‘Can I be the person Londoners need?’” he told CTV News.
In a press release which announced Holder’s upcoming retirement, he said the decision was also influenced by discussion and personal reflection with his family.
“I’ve simply reached a point in my life where I’d like to devote more time to other pursuits and at a more relaxed pace... In the meantime, there’s still much important work to accomplish between now and the election. I remain fully committed to my responsibilities, and duties,” he said.
In July 2018, Holder jumped into the mayoral race with barely a hundred days to go, but the former federal MP and cabinet minister won with 58.8 per cent of the first choice votes.
“There is a lot of work involved,” explained Dr. Jacquetta Newman, a political scientist at Kings University College.
Newman said the rigours of political office can be significant, “We still have this idea that it’s a part time thing, it’s something you do after you retire, but it’s really not. It’s full-time. It’s a lot of work.”
Holder’s term in the mayor’s office has been punctuated by several challenges including the BRT route compromise, the COVID-19 pandemic and his commitment to build 3,000 affordable housing units in five years.
Holder became London’s 64th mayor on December 1, 2018. Prior to that, he had served as MP for London West from 2008 to 2015 and was also the federal minister of science and technology.
Fulfilling his affordable housing commitment will be a task left to his successor, though he points out municipal policies and agreements with senior governments are in place.
“This is so dramatic and so important that there is no way that it cannot happen,” Holder said.
Holder remains committed to leading council during his final five months in office, and said he will be looking for new ways to contribute to London after his term is over.
“I just hope that Londoners will look back and say, ‘Not only did he do his best, but what he did was positive for this city,’” Holder said.
“The opportunity to serve as mayor has truly been the honour of a lifetime... As I prepare to enjoy life beyond politics, I take great pride in this council’s accomplishments,” Holder added in his press release. “Together, we have made historic investments in support of our most vulnerable, along with transformative changes to London’s transit system.”
Holder’s last day in office will be November 14, and Londoners will elect a new mayor and council on October 24.
— With files from CTV News London’s Kristylee Varley
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.