Veteran Calgary Conservative MP and House of Commons international trade committee chair Lee Richardson has decided to abandon federal politics for the lure of Alberta politics
He surprised the House of Commons May 30 by announcing that he is resigning his Calgary Centre seat to become principal secretary to Alberta Progressive Conservative premier Alison Redford.
Richardson, 64, whose federal political roots go back to working for former Tory prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney, was elected a Calgary MP in 1988, defeated in 1993 and re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011.
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He is on the progressive side of the Conservative party.
Richardson also was an early supporter of Peter Lougheed when he became Alberta PC leader and then premier in 1971.
In 2011, he won his Calgary riding with almost 58 percent of the vote. It is considered a safe Conservative seat.
In his farewell speech to the Commons, Richardson heaped praise on prime minister Stephen Harper, calling him a friend and not mentioning any policy or ideological differences.
Harper returned the compliment, issuing a statement praising the MP for his “wisdom and insight.”
A byelection will have to be called within months. Richardson’s resignation does not leave the Conservative majority in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, a narrow Conservative victory in Etobicoke Centre, a Toronto suburb, has been overturned by a judge who ruled there were voter irregularities.
The verdict has been appealed by the Conservatives but if upheld, will lead to another byelection later this year.
