Ontario House Speaker and longtime Conservative MPP Ted Arnott has announced he will not run in the next provincial election.
The Wellington-Halton Hills MPP said his current term will be his last, closing a chapter on a political career that has spanned more than three decades.
“To everything there is a season,” he wrote in an Oct. 15 statement. “After many conversations with my family in recent weeks, I have decided that I will not be a candidate in the provincial riding of Wellington-Halton Hills when that election is called.”
Ontario’s next election date is tentatively scheduled for June 4, 2026. Arnott said he will continue to serve his constituents to the “very best of” his ability while also upholding his duties as the Speaker of the House at Queen’s Park until the next election.
Arnott was first elected to legislature at the age of 27 in 1990, making him the youngest MPP in the Ontario PC Caucus at the time.
He is one of the longest-serving members, having been re-elected eight times during his 34-year political career. He was voted in as House Speaker in 2018 under the Doug Ford government and was re-elected to the position by his fellow members in 2022.
Prior to his two terms as speaker, Arnott served as a deputy presiding officer, parliamentary assistant to several ministers, and critic to several ministers as a member of the opposition.
Arnott has been a popular candidate in his riding over the years, garnering decisive wins in the past five elections. He took 49.2 percent of the vote in 2007, 55.6 percent in 2011, 46.6 percent in 2014, 54 percent in 2018, and 50.6 percent in 2022.
He said he was grateful for his years of service, made possible through the “infinite patience” of his wife Lisa and their family, as well as the will of the voters.
“To all my constituents, those who supported me (as well as those who didn’t), thank you for your encouragement, your feedback, and your advice,” Arnott wrote. “No MPP does their job in isolation. It is only through ongoing interaction and communication with individual residents, local municipal councils, and community organizations that MPPs can give our ridings the representation they deserve.”
