Former London West MP Ed Holder has ended the speculation and officially announced he is running for mayor of London.
The 63-year-old publicly shared his intention at Innovation Works on King St. Thursday, just two hours after he filed his nomination papers at city hall.
"Let me not keep you in suspense. Today I am pleased and honoured to announce my candidacy for Mayor of the City of London," Holder said to the packed room.
The two-term Conservative MP also made it clear where he stands on the bus rapid transit (BRT) debate, stating he does not support the current plan.
"It will cost a half-billion dollars of which virtually all the funds will be used to assist a small percentage of daily commuters who use the bus," said Holder. "It will cause at least ten years of traffic headaches for the majority of our citizens who drive cars to work and will permanently reduce the number of lanes available to cars when the dedicated bus lanes are built."
Holder served as a federal cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He lost his London West seat in the 2015 federal election to Kate Young. When asked whether his Conservative ties would hinder his ability to act in a non-partisan position, Holder was confident they would not.
"When I was member of parliament and minister, one of the things that I prided myself in was my ability to work across parties to work for a greater cause, not a partisan position," said Holder. "My intention is to work with council, to work with the various interest groups to ensure we come together for London's sake. I think I've shown that through my business experience, my political experience, my community experience and now I'd like to bring that forward to make sure that we can grow a stronger London together."
Holder intends to release his full platform by the end of the summer.
"What we are going to do over the summer is take a collaborative approach. We are going to speak to interest groups, we are going to speak to Londoners and get their strong views and then come forward with a very clear platform at that time," said Holder.
Currently, there are 14 people running to replace Matt Brown as London's mayor.