Andrew Lewis (Canadian politician)
Andrew Lewis is a former Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada from 2004 to 2006, and a prominent member of the Green Party of British Columbia.
He is a 45-year-old landscaper who came from the United Kingdom to Vancouver Island in the early 1990s.
He first became nationally visible in the 2001 British Columbia provincial election, winning 25% of the vote in BC's largest riding, Saanich North and the Islands. He won the most Green votes of any riding, and second-strongest percentage showing to Adriane Carr on the Sunshine Coast. The party as a whole polled 12.4% across BC.
In the 2004 federal election, Lewis ran again in a substantially larger federal riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands and won 16.7% of the vote and also posted the first victory in a polling division ever for his federal party and in fact won 17 of 238 polls. The party as a whole polled 4.3% across Canada.
Lewis achieved some visibility in the major media which was intrigued by the story of a Green running to win.
He didn't run in the 2005 provincial election due to a "nomination freeze" imposed by the Green Party of BC, and an illness in the family. He ran again in Saanich—Gulf Islands in the 2006 federal election but lost one-third of his 2004 vote share winning only 9.9% of the ballots cast.
He ran again in Saanich—Gulf Islands in the 2008 federal election, getting 10.5% of the vote.
Electoral record
| British Columbia general election, 2001: Saanich North and the Islands | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Liberal | Murray Coell | 15,406 | 54.29% | |||||
| Green | Andrew Lewis | 7,211 | 25.41% | |||||
| New Democratic | Paul Sam | 5,011 | 17.66% | |||||
| Marijuana | Christina Racki | 491 | 1.73% | |||||
| Independent | Balther Johannes Jensen | 257 | 0.91% | |||||
| Canadian federal election, 2004: Saanich—Gulf Islands | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Gary Lunn | 22,050 | 34.57 | -18.86 | $81,613 | |||
| Liberal | David Mulroney | 17,082 | 26.78 | -5.51 | $61,819 | |||
| New Democratic | Jennifer Burgis | 13,763 | 21.58 | +13.56 | $40,318 | |||
| Green | Andrew Lewis | 10,662 | 16.71 | +11.20 | $79,731 | |||
| Independent | Mary Moreau | 214 | 0.33 | – | $12 | |||
| Total valid votes | 63,771 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 159 | 0.25 | ||||||
| Turnout | 63,930 | 73.97 | ||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -6.68 | ||||||
| Conservative change is from a combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative votes. | ||||||||
| Canadian federal election, 2006: Saanich—Gulf Islands | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Gary Lunn | 24,416 | 37.15 | +2.58 | $80,272 | |||
| New Democratic | Jennifer Burgis | 17,455 | 26.54 | +4.96 | $50,412 | |||
| Liberal | Sheila Orr | 17,144 | 26.08 | -0.70 | $79,489 | |||
| Green | Andrew Lewis | 6,533 | 9.94 | -6.77 | $19,061 | |||
| Western Block | Patricia O'Brien | 183 | 0.27 | – | $0 | |||
| Total valid votes | 65,721 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 134 | 0.20 | ||||||
| Turnout | 65,855 | 73.2 | ||||||
| Conservative hold | Swing | -1.19 | ||||||
External links
- Going Green in a place that's fertile ground for the individualist reprinting Globe and Mail article