London West is seeing red. Incumbent Liberal MP, Kate Young, has been re-elected as the riding’s member of parliament. She gained nearly 43 percent of the riding’s support, tallying over 30,000 votes.
“I just want to cry, because we have worked so hard,” said an emotional Kate Young while she addressed her campaign members. There were about 100 of Young’s staff, volunteers, friends and family at Kubby’s Bar and Grill on Election Night. Each time Young’s name came onto the screen, the place erupted in cheers and applause.
Young came into October 21st with a seven-point lead on Conservative candidate Liz Snelgrove. The seven-percent margin of error made it so the riding was up for grabs when voters headed to the polls. As results came trickling in, Young gained a lead of 1,000 votes, which continued to grow as more polls were submitted. She finished with a total of 30,054 – which is over 10,000 more than Snelgrove who was finished second in the riding. Shawna Lewkowitz (NDP), Mary Ann Hodge (Green) and Mike McMullen (PPC), finished in that order, respectively, behind Snelgrove.
Applause erupts every time the London West riding comes on the TV. Kate Young is picking up more separation by the minute. Likely a Liberal riding#ElectionDay #elxn43 #ldnont pic.twitter.com/sv6YeK0Njo
– Greg Bowman (@gregbowmann) October 22, 2019
Young was able to dethrone two-time Conservative MP, Ed Holder, in 2015 in her first campaign. Being elected is one thing, but being re-elected is another. “It was difficult, there’s no question,” explained Young on her second campaign. “It just seemed a little harsher than four years ago. So much has happened in the world in four years that it is a different environment and you felt that at the door.”
Young said that she and her campaign knocked on over 40,000 doors throughout the course of the election campaign. London West has seen some rapid growth since 2015, with the city expanding its limits, adding new subdivisions to the riding.
“There’s no question that London is growing, and there were a lot of new subdivisions for me to knock on doors…I knew I couldn’t have done it without my hundreds of volunteers. They stuck with me through thick and thin and they just kept going.”
Since London West was established in 1966, its MP has represented the winning party in 13 of the 15 elections it has been involved in. “I think London plays an important part in Parliament Hill. There’s no question that when I go to Parliament Hill, people know about London. We matter to Ottawa and this shows that we will continue to matter,” Young said.
