ST. JOHN’S – A look at Tony Wakeham, leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador Progressive Conservatives, who was elected premier-designate in Tuesday’s provincial election.
After the ballots were counted, Wakeham’s Tories won 21 seats, good for a slim majority in the 40-seat legislature of Canada’s easternmost province. With Tuesday’s win, the Progressive Conservatives ended 10 years of Liberal rule and won their first provincial election since 2011.
Before politics: Born in 1956 in Placentia, N.L., Wakeham worked in the public and private sectors for more than three decades before he entered politics. He used to be chief executive officer of Labrador-Grenfell Health, the region’s former health authority. He has also worked in the province’s auditor general’s office.
Wakeham is also a former president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association and of Canada Basketball, and he was inducted into the province’s Basketball Hall of Fame as an athlete and contributor.
Education: He studied economics at Memorial University in St. John’s, N.L.
Political career: Wakeham was first elected in 2019 as a Progressive Conservative in the western Newfoundland district of Stephenville — Port au Port. He was re-elected in the 2021 provincial election. In 2023, he was chosen to lead the party after its former leader, David Brazil, stepped down.
Family: Wakeham and his wife, Patricia, have two adult children and two grandchildren.
Quote: “I’ve spent over 30 years of my life coaching basketball. And in basketball you learn that no stat is less important than the score at halftime. Well, it was only a couple of months ago a whole lot of people were looking at the halftime score and thinking this election was over …. But we knew — all of us! — we knew in our PC team that the game was not over.” — Tony Wakeham in his victory speech Tuesday night after his party’s majority election win.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2025.
