About Howard Hampton:
The son of a mill worker in a rural northern Ontario riding with strong trade union loyalties, Ontario NDP leader Howard Hampton has a background as a labour lawyer. A vocal and agressive leader, Howard Hampton is a strong adherent to traditional NDP principles, yet in his first election as NDP leader in 1999 he managed to lead the Ontario NDP to their poorest results in Ontario since the 1950s, with only 9 MPPs elected. In the general election of 2003, only 7 NDP MPPs were elected. The NDP lost official party status, but Hampton still managed to hang on to the Ontario NDP party leadership.
The NDP's popularity was on an upswing heading into the 2007 Ontario provincial election campaign, and Howard Hampton focused on raising the minimum wage in Ontario to $10 an hour and other issues of economic justice, such as job protection, fair property taxes and gas price regulation. The NDP still won only 10 seats, and by the summer of 2008 Howard Hampton said he would not run for leader at the March 2009 convention, although he would stay on as an MPP.
Leader of the Ontario NDP:
1996 to 2009
Birth:
May 17, 1952 in Fort Frances, Ontario.
Education:
- BA in philosophy and religion - Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
- BEd - University of Toronto
- LLB - University of Ottawa
Profession:
Labour lawyer
Political Affiliation:
New Democratic Party of Ontario
Riding (Electoral District):
Kenora-Rainy River
Political Career of Howard Hampton:
- Howard Hampton was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1987.
- He was appointed NDP Justice Critic in 1987.
- Howard Hampton was re-elected in the 1990 Ontario provincial election which put the New Democratic Party in power in Ontario.
- In 1990, he was appointed Attorney General of Ontario in the Bob Rae cabinet.
- Howard Hampton was appointed Minister of Natural Resources in 1993.
- Howard Hampton was re-elected in the 1995 Ontario provincial election, but the New Democratic Party was defeated.
- Howard Hampton was elected Leader of the New Democratic Party of Ontario in 1996. He also served as NDP Critic for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
- In the Ontario provincial election of 1999, Hampton's first election as NDP leader, he managed to lead the Ontario NDP to their poorest results in Ontario since the 1950s, with only 9 MPPs elected.
- In the Ontario provincial election of 2003, just 7 NDP MPPs were elected.
- The popularity of the NDP increased by the 2007 Ontario provincial election, but the NDP only captured 10 seats.
- In the summer of 2008, Howard Hampton announced that he would not run for re-election as leader of the Ontario NDP at the leadership convention in March 2009, but he did plan to stay on as an MPP.
