Ben Lobb secures historic sixth victory in Huron-Bruce

BY SCOTT STEPHENSON

Ben Lobb has been re-elected as the Member of Parliament for Huron-Bruce, securing a sixth consecutive term despite a tighter race than in previous elections and a national Conservative result that fell short of forming government.

 

According to results available at press time, Lobb received 36,854 votes, accounting for 53.3 per cent of the vote in the riding. Liberal candidate James Rice followed with 28,623 votes, or 41.4 per cent. Rice’s showing marked the strongest result for a Liberal in Huron-Bruce in at least the last almost-20 years since Lobb first tried his hand at politics.

 

Melanie Burrett of the NDP earned 2,324 votes (3.4 per cent), Green candidate Greg McLean received 916 votes (1.3 per cent), and independents Justin L. Smith and Caesar “Salad” Pella took 269 and 193 votes respectively (each at 0.3 per cent).

 

Lobb addressed supporters Monday night at the Lucknow Legion, a venue he praised for its ongoing work in the community. Lobb noted that proceeds from the evening’s bar sales would support the Legion’s upcoming track and field event. He added that many in attendance had participated in track and field at some point, with varying degrees of success.

 

Lobb joked that the door-to-door effort, which he estimated at over 10,000 doors, helped him lose 10 pounds over the course of the campaign.

 

As the evening wore on, the longtime MP grew more serious, pointing to the cost of living as the dominant issue he heard from voters. “One guy said, ‘Ben, I have voted Liberal my whole life. But my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids are all living with me now. This has to stop.’”

 

He also relayed a message from a self-identified lifetime NDP voter who said she had voted for Jack Layton, Tom Mulcair and Jagmeet Singh, but would be supporting the Conservatives in this election.

 

Lobb argued that since the COVID-19 pandemic, a combination of Liberal spending, rising deficits and inflation had deepened the country’s economic divide.

 

Despite his own success, Lobb acknowledged the broader Conservative result fell short of expectations. He said that if the election had been in October, the party probably would have won by 40 or 50 per cent. He cited former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation and U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration as events that shifted momentum.