Lone London-area Conservative MP reportedly calling it quits

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Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives will go into the next federal election without their only London-area MP, who’s packing it in after nearly a decade in office, according to a news report. 

Elgin-Middlesex-London MP Karen Vecchio, citing family reasons, will serve out her term but not run in the next federal election, St. Thomas Today is reporting.

Vecchio wasn’t immediately available for comment Tuesday and hadn’t acknowledged on her social media accounts that she’s bowing out of federal politics. She’s been the MP for her St. Thomas-area riding, which takes in a portion of London, since 2015.

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The next federal election is expected by October 2025 but could happen before then, with Justin Trudeau’s Liberals ruling in a minority government propped up with the support of the New Democratic Party.

Vecchio’s reported departure from federal politics drew disappointed reaction on social media from some other MPs, including London North Centre Liberal MP Peter Fragiskatos.

“One of the kindest, most thoughtful people I’ve ever had the chance to work with,”  Fragiskatos wrote on X, the former Twitter. “The House of Commons will be less without her.”

Francesco Sorbara, the Liberal MP for Vaughn-Woodbridge, wrote that it’s “disappointing Parliament will be losing such a great MP,” adding that Vecchio “is one of the most authentic, hard working and kind MPs you will ever meet.”

Conservative communications director Sarah Fischer, in an emailed statement to The London Free Press, called Vecchio “a dedicated member” of the party’s caucus in Ottawa who has “proudly served her community.”

“We wish her all the best following the next election, as she continues to serve her constituents until then,” she wrote.

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Vecchio was first elected in 2015, replacing then-Conservative MP Joe Preston, who went on to become mayor of St. Thomas, after working as his executive assistant for 11 years.

The Conservatives have held Elgin-Middlesex-London for 20 years, one of seven seats the party holds in the wider 10-riding London region and the only one that takes in voters in London.

Vecchio made headlines earlier this year after she was unceremoniously shuffled out of her longtime post as chairperson of the House of Commons’ committee on the status of women, a move criticized by some area advocates for women.

The Liberals on the 11-member, all-party committee abstained from the vote for a chairperson, and another Conservative MP – Shelby Kramp-Neuman, of Hastings-Lennox and Addington Conservative – was chosen to succeed Vecchio.

Vecchio, who has previously served as the Conservatives’ deputy house leader, had joined the committee in 2016.

The three-term MP was among a handful of MPs who backed former Quebec premier Jean Charest in the 2022 Conservative leadership contest, which Poilievre won in a whopping first-ballot victory.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

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