Tony Wakeham

Early Life and Family

Tony Wakeham was born on 16 July 1956 in Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, on the southwestern coast of the Avalon Peninsula, west of St. John’s. His mother, Mary, was a teacher. His father, James, worked at Marine Atlantic and the American naval base in Argentia.

After graduating from Laval High School, Wakeham enrolled at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1979.

Wakeham and his wife, Patricia, live in Kippens, a town of less than 2,000 people on Newfoundland’s west coast, southwest of Corner Brook. They have a son and a daughter and three grandchildren.

Basketball Career

Tony Wakeham has always been passionate about basketball. He played in high school and then university varsity basketball. He later coached basketball, most notably the Newfoundland and Labrador men’s team at the 1987 Canada Winter Games Wakeham also coached at the province’s 1994 Winter Games. He went on to serve as president of both the Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association and Basketball Canada.

In June 2015, Wakeham was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Basketball Association’s Hall of Fame as an athlete and builder. He said, “All of that experience gives you the concept of team building, and teamwork, and what it means to be able to form teams.”

Business and Public Service

For 30 years, Tony Wakeham was a public servant in the provincial government. He worked in the Department of Finance and the Office of the Auditor General. When the province had 14 health boards providing health services, Wakeham worked with health boards in Clarenville and Grand Falls-Windsor.

In August 2012, Wakeham was appointed president and CEO of the Labrador-Grenfell Regional Health Authority. The Authority oversaw several health boards and was responsible for the delivery and administration of health and community services throughout Labrador and the northern part of Newfoundland. Wakeham led over 1,500 staff members.

In 2003, Wakeham and a partner invested in and ran seven fast food franchises (Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut). Wakeham, who once said, “I always had that entrepreneurial spirit,” also invested in the purchase of the Classic Theatre in Grand Falls-Windsor.

Entry into Politics

In December 2017, after Newfoundland and Labrador’s Progressive Conservative leader, Paul Davis, had announced his intention to resign, Tony Wakeham declared his candidacy to replace him. His opponent was prominent St. John’s lawyer Ches Crosbie, the son of former provincial and federal cabinet minister John Crosbie. Like Wakeham, Crosbie did not hold a seat in the provincial legislature. Wakeham said, “People in our province are asking for truth and clarity, and I am prepared to be that kind of leader. I am prepared to take on tough issues and make decisions which may be unpopular, but necessary.” Party members chose Crosbie by 2,298.92 points, compared to 1,701.08 for Wakeham.

In early 2019, Wakeham won the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding of Stephenville-Port au Port. In the 16 May 2019 provincial election, the Liberals were returned to power with a minority government. Wakeham became his riding’s member of the House of Assembly (MHA) when he defeated his Liberal Party opponent by only 31 votes.

In the March 2021 provincial election, Progressive Conservative Party leader Ches Crosbie lost his seat and resigned. He was replaced by interim party leader David Brazil. Wakeham was re-elected in Stephenville-Port au Port, defeating his Liberal opponent by 907 votes.

PC Leadership Campaign

In January 2023, Tony Wakeham announced that he would run for leader of the province’s Progressive Conservative Party. In his campaign, Wakeham spoke of the need to improve the province’s health care system and address the high cost of living. He said that taxes must be lowered. His opponents were businessman and former party president Eugene Manning and Terra Nova MHA Lloyd Parrott.

In October 2023, at the age of 67, Wakeham won the party leadership on the second ballot. In his victory speech, he promised that the party would put people above politics and build a more prosperous Newfoundland and Labrador.

Leader of the Opposition

As Opposition leader, Tony Wakeham criticized many of the government’s decisions and policies, including what he said was spending too much public money on ads praising its achievements. He argued that the money could be better spent on programs to help people deal with the high cost of living.

2025 Election

In February 2025, Andrew Furey announced that after five years in power he was resigning as Liberal Party leader and premier. John Hogan, MHA for Windsor Lake, won the ensuing party leadership contest and on 9 May was sworn in as Newfoundland and Labrador’s new premier. In September, Hogan dissolved the assembly, triggering an election for 14 October.

As the fall campaign began, Wakeham stressed the importance of addressing health care, crime and pocketbook issues. He said that his philosophy remained the same as it had been since he entered public life. “I want to put more money back in people’s pockets,” he said. “I want to provide the support to those so that they have the ability to spend more money because, quite frankly, the more money you have to spend, the more you’ll spend.”

The election ended a decade of Liberal governments, as the Progressive Conservatives won 21 seats in the 40-seat legislature to form a majority government. Wakeham became the province’s 16th premier. In his victory speech, he pledged to work hard to build a bigger, brighter future for everyone. He promised an ambitious program that would include improvements in health care, lower taxes, refunding the tuition of graduates who stay in the province, increased support for seniors, and safer communities through the hiring of more police officers and crown attorneys.

Wakeham also took aim at the tentative Churchill Falls deal between NL Hydro and Hydro-Québec that Furey’s Liberals had negotiated. Wakeham said the deal wasn’t good enough and promised to have it reviewed by an independent third party. “I will demand a true, independent review that will share its conclusions with the public,” Wakeham said. “I will use that review to fix this deal or demand a better one. And given the generational stakes, I will not sign any deal that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians do not approve in a referendum.”

(See also Premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador; Politics in Newfoundland and Labrador.)