Branden Leslie
Branden Leslie MP is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a by-election on 19 June 2023. He represents Portage—Lisgar as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.[3] Previously, he was a former Conservative political staffer and a policy and government relations manager with Grain Growers Canada.[4]
Branden Leslie | |
|---|---|
Leslie in 2023 | |
| Member of Parliament for Portage—Lisgar | |
| Assumed office June 19, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Candice Bergen |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1989 or 1990 (age 33–34)[1] |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Carleton University Brandon University[2] |
| Profession | Manager |
Career edit
Leslie previously served as former MP Candice Bergen's campaign manager,[5] was a former political staffer for the Conservatives and was a policy and government relations manager with Grain Growers Canada.[4]
On January 25, 2023, Leslie announced that he was running for the Conservative nomination in Portage—Lisgar to succeed Bergen, the party’s former interim leader.[4] On April 28, Leslie was selected by members to become the party candidate defeating prominent candidates such as former Morden-Winkler MLA and former Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba cabinet minister Cameron Friesen and Lawrence Toet, who was the MP for Elmwood—Transcona during the 41st Canadian Parliament (2011–2015).[6] During the race, Leslie criticized Friesen for his role as Manitoba's health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that Friesen's implementation of lockdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19 were unjustified.[6]
During the by-election, Leslie was challenged and defeated the far-right leader Maxime Bernier of the People's Party of Canada.[5] Both he and Bernier were competing for the same voter base.[7] Leslie revealed that he is pro-life[8] and was captured on video saying that he would have voted against the ban on conversion therapy and supportive of the Freedom Convoy.[9] Leslie also asserted that he would not attend the World Economic Forum in Davos and criticized Bernier for attending the event as foreign affairs minister in Stephen Harper's government.[10] Leslie's campaign, in addition, circulated a flyer of Bernier wearing a Pride T-shirt implying that Bernier was pro-LGBTQ rights.[11][12] After being elected, Leslie was asked about the video and if he would keep those stances in parliament, Leslie said would "vote with the will of his constituents."[13]
Electoral result edit
| Canadian federal by-election, June 19, 2023: Portage—Lisgar Resignation of Candice Bergen | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Conservative | Branden Leslie | 20,250 | 64.95 | +12.43 | ||||
| People's | Max Bernier | 5,352 | 17.16 | −4.42 | ||||
| Liberal | Kerry Smith | 2,666 | 8.55 | −2.40 | ||||
| New Democratic | Lisa Tessier-Burch | 2,208 | 7.08 | −6.30 | ||||
| Green | Nicolas Geddert | 704 | 2.26 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 31,180 | 99.40 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 188 | 0.60 | −0.15 | |||||
| Turnout | 31,368 | 45.47 | −20.77 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 68,988 | |||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | +8.42 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[14] | ||||||||
References edit
- ^ Da Silva, Danielle (June 20, 2023). "Status quo at Manitoba polls". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on July 3, 2023.
- ^ "Branden Leslie Profile". Linkedin. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ "Results coming in for federal byelections in Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec". CBC News. June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Aspiring CPC candidate with farm roots says he's running to make impacts in agriculture". www.ipolitics.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
- ^ a b "Branden Leslie holds on to Portage-Lisgar for federal Conservatives". Winnipeg. 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ a b "Branden Leslie wins Conservative nomination for Portage-Lisgar". Winnipeg. 2023-05-01. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
- ^ "Did Pierre Poilievre Pass His First Test? | The Walrus". 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
- ^ "Poilievre rallies Conservative support ahead of key vote for PPC's Bernier | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
- ^ "StackPath". xtramagazine.com. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
- ^ Wherry, Aaron (June 17, 2023). ""Suddenly, the World Economic Forum is a ballot box issue in a Manitoba byelection"". CBC.
- ^ Ivision, John (June 19, 2023). "John Ivison: Poilievre looks poised on the surface. Underneath, he's paddling like hell". National Post.
- ^ "Pierre Poilievre has a likability challenge. Here's what Conservative insiders say he should do about it — and where he's going wrong". thestar.com. 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2023-06-29.
- ^ "Branden Leslie reacts to landslide win of Portage-Lisgar seat in House of Commons". PortageOnline. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
- ^ "June 19, 2023, by-elections—Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 13 November 2023.