Steven John Ashton (born February 29, 1956) is a British-born Canadian politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a long-serving member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, and was a long-time cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments led by premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. He resigned from cabinet on December 22, 2014 to challenge Selinger for the leadership of the party. Ashton was eliminated from the race, after finishing last on the first ballot at the 2015 NDP leadership convention. Selinger was re-elected party leader on the second ballot. In 2017, Ashton ran for Manitoba NDP leader, losing to Wab Kinew, who became premier in 2023.

Early life

Ashton was born in Surrey, England, the son of John Stewart Ashton and Nedra May Childs. His father was born in Wales. He moved with his family, including his brothers Martin and Alan,

The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1988, although Ashton won his own riding by a comfortable margin. He would later serve as House Leader for the NDP in opposition, and was easily re-elected in the provincial elections of 1990, 1995 and 1999. Ashton placed second behind Greg Selinger with 34.2% of the vote.

Upon Greg Selinger's election as premier, Ashton was made Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation, with the added responsibilities of Emergency Measures and the administration of the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act. He also became the lead minister for Canada-Manitoba Infrastructure programs.

He returned to cabinet in April 2015 as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation and Minister responsible for emergency measures.

In 2017, Ashton ran for Manitoba NDP leader, losing to Wab Kinew.

Personal life

In 1979, Ashton married Hariklia while his son Alexander was elected chairman of the board of trustees for the School District of Mystery Lake.

Ashton is also Secretary of the Canadian Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles, seeking the return of the treasured sculptures from Britain to Greece. He speaks Greek, and has written on the political culture of that nation.

2009 leadership convention

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

! colspan="3" | 2009 New Democratic Party of Manitoba leadership election

|-

! style="width: 17em" |Candidate

! style="width: 5em" |Votes

! style="width: 7em" |Percentage

|-

| Greg Selinger

| align="right" | 1,317

| align="right" | 65.75%

|-

| Steve Ashton

| align="right" | 685

| align="right" | 34.20%

|-bgcolor="white"

| align="right" | Spoiled ballots

| align="right" | 1

| align="right" | 0.05%

|-bgcolor="white"

| align="right" | Total

| align="right" | 2,003

| align="right" | 100.00%

|}

Provincial results

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|Progressive Conservative

|Chuck Shabe

| style="text-align:right;" |1,320

| style="text-align:right;" |22.51

| style="text-align:right;" |-7.36

|- style="background-color:white"

| style="text-align:right;" colspan=3 |Total valid votes

| style="text-align:right;" |5,865

| style="text-align:right;" |100.00

| style="text-align:right;" |

|- style="background-color:white"

| style="text-align:right;" colspan=3 |Rejected votes

| style="text-align:right;" |19

| style="text-align:right;" |

| style="text-align:right;" |

|- style="background-color:white"

| style="text-align:right;" colspan=3 |Turnout

| style="text-align:right;" |5,884

| style="text-align:right;" |54.87

| style="text-align:right;" |

|- style="background-color:white"

| style="text-align:right;" colspan=3 |Registered voters

| style="text-align:right;" |10,724

| style="text-align:right;" |

| style="text-align:right;" |

References

  • Official Website