Andrea Horwath, MPP, is a Canadian politician who has led the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) since 2009 and has served as the Official Opposition Leader in Ontario since 2018. On October 24, 1962, she was born. She has been a member of the Hamilton Centre MPP since 2004.
She became the first woman to lead the Ontario New Democratic Party and one of only three women to lead a political party with representation in the Ontario provincial legislature when she was chosen at the 2009 Ontario NDP leadership convention (the other two are former Ontario Liberal Party leaders Kathleen Wynne and Lyn McLeod).
After 23 years without a government or opposition, Horwath led the Ontario NDP to formal opposition status in the 2018 provincial election.
She stood as the NDP candidate in Hamilton West against incumbent Liberal Stan Keyes in the 1997 Canadian federal election. Despite her loss, her second-place finish was a significant improvement over the NDP’s previous efforts in the seat, and it gave her more awareness in the city.
She was elected to Hamilton City Council for Ward Two later that year, upsetting two incumbents who had served in the district for nearly two decades. She was re-elected to the city council in 2000 and 2003 as a strong champion for the city’s political left. During her three terms on the city council, she chaired the solid-waste management committee and the municipal non-profit housing corporation.
Horwath got the EVE award in March 2012, which is presented by Equal Voice, a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging women in politics. Women from all levels of government have been past honorees.
Julian, her son born in November 1992, resides with her in Hamilton. She revealed publicly for the first time about the dissolution of her longterm relationship with Julian’s father, Hamilton businessman Ben Leonetti, in a March 2011 interview with the Toronto Star.
Horwath had met Ben Leonetti while working part-time as a waitress during her university years, and he was a jazz pianist. They were together for 25 years but never married, and they divorced in 2010.
