Here's who's running in London-area ridings as snap election campaign gets rolling

In Ontario politics, even when the party in power appears to hold a clear advantage, calling a snap election always has the potential to backfire. 

Just ask David Peterson. 

The former London MPP and Liberal premier was riding high in the polls with a strong majority when he called an early election in 1990, just three years into his mandate. At the time, it seemed like a sound strategy move. Peterson held a stronger majority than Ford holds now. But instead of securing a stronger mandate, Peterson's Liberals were cast into opposition by Bob Rae's upstart NDP, losing 59 of their 95 seats in the process. 

Peterson, speaking Monday on CBC's London Morning, said there might be a lesson in that 1990 result for Ford

"Every person reading the polls said we were going to win, and we didn't," Peterson said.

'Can he get away with it?' Former premier David Peterson on Doug Ford's early election call

2 days ago

Duration 1:38

Former Ontario premier David Peterson called an early election in 1990, which ended in a surprise loss to Bob Rae and the NDP. He joined London Morning host Andrew Brown to talk about Doug Ford calling an early election and questions his reasons.

"I've won when I was 20 points behind in the polls and lost when I was 20 points ahead," said Peterson, now 81. "Election periods are very volatile and public opinion changes very quickly. Conventional wisdom is often chucked out the window."

As the campaign kicks off, Doug Ford's PCs hold a commanding 79 seats in the 124-seat Legislature. 

The electoral map of southwestern Ontario currently shows London's three core ridings as a small cluster of NDP orange locked inside a deep sea of PC blue. 

Incumbents in London ridings

All three NDP incumbents in the London city ridings (London Centre, London-Fanshawe and London West) are seeking re-election. Conservative MPP Rob Flack is also seeking re-election in the riding of Elgin Middlesex London. And in Oxford, Ernie Hardeman, who was first elected in 1995 and has held the seat since that time, will also be making a return to the campaign trail.

As of Tuesday, the Liberals had yet to announce their candidates in both London-Fanshawe and London West. Party officials say they expect to announce candidates in those ridings soon after an accelerated nomination process. A full list of candidates can be found below. 

The election call comes more than a year before the set date of June 2026. Ford has said the early call is needed to take on U.S. President Donald Trump and his threatened tariffs. The opposition parties, however, say an election call now is unnecessary. 

Will voters respond to Ford? 

Sam Routley is a PhD candidate in political science at Western University. He's worked with the Conservative Party of Canada and as a legislative assistant at Queen's Park. 

He sees the early election call as a move that's "perfectly within the scope of Ford's power," though Routley also questions the premier's stated reason for triggering the vote. 

"As much as Ford has tried to justify it by saying he needs a mandate against Trump ... I think it's very clearly for his political advantage," said Routley.

Peterson also doubts Ford's explanation, and said the standings in Ontario's Legislature are hardly top of mind for Trump. 

"It's a pretty fragile case," Peterson said. "If people think they're being taken advantage of, they can quickly change their minds."

Peterson said holding a rare mid-winter election amounts to "cruel and unusual punishment" for voters. He joked it might be difficult to pound lawn signs into the frozen ground ahead of the Feb. 27 vote.  

If the weather is bad come voting day, Routley said, it could affect the outcome in close ridings. Rolutley pointed to research that shows low voter turnout can benefit incumbent parties. 

"If voters have any excuse not to vote, which would include a snowstorm or miserable weather, it's enough to keep a lot of people home," said Routley. "It's a small factor but a factor nonetheless." 

Here's the list of candidates the parties have confirmed are running in the following London-area ridings. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order:

London-Fanshawe

• NDP: Teresa Armstrong*.
• Green Party: Wil Osbourne-Sorrell. 
• Progressive Conservative: Peter Vanderley. 
• Liberal: No candidate nominated.

London North Centre

• Green: Carol Dyck.
• NDP: Terence Kernaghan*.
• Liberal: Tariq Khan.
• Progressive Conservative: Jerry Pribil. 

London West

• Progressive Conservative: Beth Allison.
• Green: Jim Johnston.
• NDP: Peggy Sattler*. 
• Liberal: No candidate nominated yet. 

Lambton-Kent-Middlesex 

• Liberal: Cathy Burghardt-Jesson.
• Progressive Conservative: Steve Pinsonneault*.
• NDP: Kathryn Shailer.
• Green: Andraena Tilgner. 

Elgin-Middlesex-London

• Progressive Conservative: Rob Flack*. 
• Green: Amanda Stark.
• Liberal: No candidate nominated.
• NDP: No candidate nominated.

Oxford

• Progressive Conservative: Ernie Hardeman*.
• Liberal: Bernia Martin. 
• NDP: Khadijah Haliru.
• Green: Colton Kaufman.
•  

Huron Bruce

• Progressive Conservative: Lisa Thompson*.
• Green: Matthew Van Ankum.
• Liberal: No candidate nominated yet.
• NDP: No candidate nominated yet.

* Indicates incumbent.