P OST M E D I A

wednesday, october 24, 2018 SECTION B

civic election 2018

Recipe for rancour?

London emerges from its trailblazing ranked-balloting experience with Ed Holder – an old political lion in a new
arena – as mayor, a new, ideologically split council and no clear direction on its pricey, hot-button transit plan

Mayor-elect Ed
Holder holds a news
conference outside
London’s Central
Library Tuesday
Ward 1 after his victory was
Michael van Holst Mike Hensen/The London Free Press announced.

Ward 2 Ward 3 Ward 4 Ward 5 Ward 6 Ward 7 Ward 8 Ward 9

Shawn Lewis Mo Salih Jesse Helmer Maureen Cassidy Phil Squire Josh Morgan Steve Lehman Anna Hopkins

@lfpress.com: Video Q&A with

London’s new mayor, plus how
the election unfolded

Ward 10 Ward 11 Ward 12 Ward 13 Ward 14 Inside: Coverage from London

Paul Van Meerbergen Stephen Turner Elizabeth Peloza Arielle Kayabaga Steve Hillier and region, Pages A2-5

Holder must learn and lead, and fast Election fails to clarify BRT fate
News analysis ences in business and as an MP into a safe, One thing, however, seems set: Anti-BRT
by Megan Stacey steady hand guiding council — could take Londoners — from the organized lobby
The London Free Press some time to answer, Western University’s groups, to individual citizens — who figured
Cameron Anderson said. the 2018 election would be a referendum on
With no municipal government experi- “There’s likely to be a good period of tran-
patrick maloney the project may be walking away disappoint-
ence, helming a fresh but divided city coun- vote watch
sition where Ed Holder himself will have to ed, one expert said.
cil, London mayor-elect Ed Holder has to not only learn the ropes of the mayoralty po- “It was far from a clear referendum on
If you wanted London’s civic election to
deliver on a tall order. sition, but manage this new council and what BRT,” said Martin Horak, former head of
provide a clear path forward on bus rapid
Some observers say he’s got the back- is the character and feel of the new council,” the local government program at Western
transit, forget it.
ground to overcome resistance and hostil- said Anderson, a political s­ cientist. University. “It’s not even clear how many
As if the debate over the $500-million
ity among members of a split council, which “The key for Mr. Holder will be to draw on people voted on the issue.
project wasn’t tortured enough, it looks
will see eight incumbents and six new fac- the powers of compromise and consensus- “Some of council’s top BRT supporters got
like Londoners have elected a city council
es divided over bus rapid transit and their ­building in the sense of trying to craft a plan elected on the first ballot.”
that could split 7-7 on BRT, making it near-
views on local government. forward that enough councillors can sup- To that point, take Jesse Helmer — argu-
ly impossible to predict whether it will be
But the looming question — whether Hold- port to move ahead.” ably, council’s most dedicated BRT backer.
pushed ahead or killed outright during the
er’s the right leader to translate his experi- See mayor | A4 next four years. See BRT | A4

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