Dwight Ball

The Honourable Dwight Ball MHA
13th Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
Incumbent
Assumed office December 14, 2015
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Lieutenant Governor	Frank Fagan
Preceded by	Paul Davis
Minister of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office December 14, 2015
Preceded by	Keith Russell
Leader of the Opposition
In office November 17, 2013 – December 14, 2015
Premier	Kathy Dunderdale Tom Marshall Paul Davis
Preceded by	Eddie Joyce (Interim)
Succeeded by	Paul Davis
In office January 3, 2012 – July 18, 2013 INTERIM
Premier	Kathy Dunderdale
Preceded by	Yvonne Jones
Succeeded by	Eddie Joyce (Interim)
Leader of the Liberal Party
Assembly Member for Humber-Gros Morne Humber Valley (2007, 2011-2015)
Incumbent
Assumed office November 17, 2013 Interim: January 3, 2012 – July 5, 2013
Preceded by	Eddie Joyce (Interim)
In office October 11, 2011 – November 27, 2015
Preceded by	Darryl Kelly
In office February 13, 2007 – October 9, 2007
Preceded by	Kathy Goudie
Succeeded by	Darryl Kelly
Personal details
Born	c. 1957 (age 58–59) Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador
Political party	Liberal

Dwight Ball (born c. 1957) is a Canadian politician, the 13th and current Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador since December 14, 2015 and an MHA. He represents the electoral district of Humber Valley in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly and has served as leader of the Liberal Party since November 2013.

On 3 January 2012, Ball began his duties as Leader of the Official Opposition and interim leader of the Liberal Party. On 5 July 2013, Ball stepped down as interim leader of the Liberal Party to run for the position permanently in the 2013 leadership election, which he won. He was sworn in on 14 December 2015.

On 30 November 2015, Ball won a 31-seat majority government in the 2015 election.

Early life and career

Ball was raised in Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador, and graduated from Elwood Regional High School.^[1] He attended Memorial Universitywhen he was 17 years old.^[1]

Ball was the recipient of the Bowl of Hygeia for his work as a community pharmacist that began with his franchising of the Deer Lake Pharmacy.^[1] Ball later bought a community pharmacy in Springdale.^[1] Ball is also the owner of several senior care homes and is involved in real estate development and venture capital investments.^[1] The towns of Deer Lake and Springdale have independently both named Ball as Employer of the Year for his contributions to supportive employment programs in the area.^[1]

Politics

Ball was the Liberal candidate in the district of Humber Valley in the 2003 provincial election but was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Kathy Goudie by less than 200 votes. When Goudie resigned from the legislature, Ball ran in a by-election to succeed her on 13 February 2007. At first, it was announced that Progressive Conservative candidate Darryl Kelly had won the by-election by a margin of twelve votes; however, Ball was later declared elected by a margin of 18 votes. A judicial recount was conducted weeks later and resulted in a reduction of Ball's lead to seven votes.^[2][3] In a rematch in the general election on 9 October 2007, Kelly defeated Ball by 254 votes. Four years later Ball once again ran as the Liberal candidate in the 2011 election and this time narrowly defeated Kelly by 68 votes.^[4]

Leadership

At a press conference on 15 December 2011, the Liberal Party announced that Ball would serve as interim leader of the party and as the Leader of the Official Opposition, effective 3 January 2012.^[5] He succeeds Kevin Aylward, who failed to win a seat in the general election, as leader of the Liberal Party and Yvonne Jones as the Official Opposition Leader. Ball announced on the same day that he planned to run for the permanent leadership of the party at the next leadership convention, and that he would step down as interim leader 90 days before the convention to even the playing field for other candidates.^[6] In May 2012, the party announced the leadership convention would take place from 15–17 November 2013.^[7] On 5 July 2013, Ball stepped down as interim leader of the Liberal Party to run for the position permanently in the leadership election that November, which he won with 59% of the vote on the 3rd ballot.^[8][9] Ball served as leader for the party in the 2015 general election.^[1]

Premiership (2015-)

Ball was sworn in as Premier in December 2015 after leading the Liberal Party to win 31 of 40 seats in the House of Assembly in the election in November.

2016-17 budget

The provincial government unveiled its budget in April 2016 and it implements austerity measures.

Anti-austerity protests have taken place across the province in areas like St. John's and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.^[10]

Popularity

During the 2015 election campaign Ball's liberals usually saw public approval ratings well over 50%. His party earned 57.2% of the votes in the election.

A poll from MQO Research in April 2016 showed a near tie in support for all 3 parties.^[11]

Electoral record

Humber - Gros Morne - Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dwight Ball	4,610	75.98%	–
	Progressive Conservative	Graydon Pelley	983	16.20%	–
	New Democratic	Mike Goosney	474	7.81%	–

Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador leadership election, 2013

	Ballot 1				Ballot 2				Ballot 3
Candidate	Votes	%	Points	%	Votes	%	Points	%	Votes	%	Points	%
Dwight Ball	10,944	45.94%	2,130.05	44.38%	11,306	48.45%	2,257.15	47.02%	12,598	60.64%	2,832.29	59.01%
Paul Antle	6,340	26.61%	1,321.15	27.52%	6,600	28.28%	1,397.86	29.12%	8,178	39.36%	1,967.71	40.99%
Cathy Bennett	5,252	22.05%	1,089.05	22.69%	5,431	23.27%	1,144.99	23.85%
Danny Dumaresque	670	2.81%	131.69	2.74%
Jim Bennett	617	2.59%	128.05	2.67%
Total	23,823	100.00	4,800.00	100.00	23,337	100.00	4,800.00	100.00	20,776	100.00	4,800.00	100.00

Humber Valley - Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dwight Ball	2,609	48.14%	+1.05
	Progressive Conservative	Darryl Kelly	2,541	46.88%	- 4.54
	New Democratic	Sheldon Hynes	270	4.98%	–

Humber Valley - Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Darryl Kelly	3,023	51.42%	+2.88
	Liberal	Dwight Ball	2,769	47.09%	-1.61
	New Democratic	Kris Hynes	87	1.47%	–

Humber Valley - By-election, 13 February 2007 Resignation of Kathy Goudie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dwight Ball	2,153	48.70%	+1.42
	Progressive Conservative	Darryl Kelly	2,146	48.54%	–
	New Democratic	Shelley Senior	122	2.76%	–

Humber Valley - Newfoundland and Labrador general election, 2003
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Kathy Goudie	2,796	52.73%	–
	Liberal	Dwight Ball	2,507	47.28%	–

^[12]

References

1. Gushue, Lisa (23 November 2015). "Take us to your leaders: What you may not know about Davis, Ball and McCurdy". CBC News. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
2. "Judicial recount set for Humber Valley ballots". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 February 2007. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
3. "Liberal declared winner in Humber Valley recount". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
4. Hutchings, Paul (12 October 2011). "Race with incumbent was too close to call: Ball". The Western Star. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
5. "Dwight Ball named Liberal Party leader". The Telegram. 14 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
6. "Dwight Ball wants to lead Liberals into 2015 vote". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
7. "Liberal Party Announces Date of Leadership Convention". Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
8. "Dwight Ball officially in Liberal leadership race". CBC. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
9. "Dwight Ball wins Liberal leadership". CBC News. 17 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
10. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/russell-protest-budget-demonstration-labrador-1.3548238
11. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/liberals-slide-in-latest-opinion-poll-1.3553317
12. Newfoundland & Labrador Votes 2003. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 22 May 2003.

External links

• Dwight Ball