Canada: Progressive Conservatives win the 2025 Newfoundland and Labrador general election in a major upset
Noted basketball figure Tony Wakeham is set to become the next Premier.
Newfound and Labrador has held its 2025 election to decide the make-up of its Provincial House of Assembly. The results of the race have provided a major surprise for onlookers.
The Progressive Conservative Party appears to have won a majority of seats in the Assembly. Much of the polling leading up to election night had shown a double-digit lead for the Liberal Party, the governing party coming into the race which has now dropped to being the Official Opposition. Finishing in a distant third place was the New Democratic Party.
With the turn of events, Tony Wakeham is now expected to become the new Premier of the province. He became both Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador and Leader of the Opposition in 2023. Wakeham first won a seat in the House of Assembly from the coastal riding of Stephenville-Port au Port in 2019, defeating Liberal incumbent John Finn.
Wakeham is a native of Placentia on the Avalon Peninsula. He graduated from the Memorial University of Newfound, where he played on the basketball team and later became the head coach.
Eventually, Wakeham became involved in the administrative side of the sport, rising to become President of Canada Basketball. In 2015, he was elected to the NLBA Hall of Fame.