Andrew LawtonMP is a Canadian politician, author, and journalist from theConservative Party of Canada. He was electedMember of Parliament forElgin—St. Thomas—London South in the2025 Canadian federal election.

He was previously a journalist and broadcaster with conservative outlets such asTrue North andRebel Media, a London-based radio host onCFPL (AM), and the author of a book on theFreedom Convoy protest and a biography of Conservative leaderPierre Poilievre. Lawton also previously unsuccessfully ran inLondon West for theProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the2018 Ontario general election.

Lawton has apolitical science degree from theUniversity of Western Ontario and previously worked forWilfrid Laurier University as a journalism instructor.^[1]

According to Lawton, he suffered with mental illness from 2005 to 2013 and attempted to die by suicide in 2010.^[2][3] In 2010, Lawton was described in theOttawa Sun as a political organizer trying to start a CanadianTea Party movement. Between 2010 and 2012, Lawton ran a podcast calledStrictly Right, which aired 200 episodes, whose guests includedBen Shapiro andAnn Coulter, for whom he helped arrange a speech at the University of Western Ontario in March 2010.^[4][5]

In 2013, Lawton began hosting a right-wing, London-based radio show on980 CFPL (AM).^[6] In 2015, Lawton was suspended from that position for a Facebook post criticizing a local organization raisinghomophobia concerns by suggesting that gay Canadians were "the real enemy" because the transmission ofHIV/AIDS in Canada as a result ofsexual practices between men was higher than the number of sexual orientation-based hate crimes.^[7][8]

From 2015 to 2017, Lawton hosted a podcast for thealt-right websiteRebel Media calledLawton Online.^[9] He has also filled in forDanielle Smith on her radio show as well as onThe Roy Green Show.^[10] Lawton has also worked as a personality for theCanada Strong and Free Network.^[7]

Lawton was let go from his AM radio show in 2018 a few weeks before he became a candidate in the2018 Ontario general election in April.^[11][6]

On April 11, 2018 Lawton announced that he was entering theProgressive Conservative Party candidate nomination race forLondon West for the2018 Ontario general election. On April 21, he was directly appointed as the party's candidate byDoug Ford, bypassing the race.^[6] During the campaign, he released a statement on May 7 about his previous inflammatory social media posts about race, women, the LGBTQ+ community, Islam, Christianity, deaf people, and people with mental illness that had resurfaced. He said that he had a period of mental illness from 2005 and 2013 that included a suicide attempt in 2010 before starting to see apsychiatrist in 2011. He described his behaviour then, including his use of social media as "reckless" and the posts themselves as "so far removed from who I am and what I stand for that I can't even fathom my frame of mind in writing them." Lawton also asked for "compassion and trust" from voters.^[2][3][12]

Later in the campaign, on May 16 and a day before nominations closed, theOntario Liberal Party called on Ford to remove Lawton as a candidate, citing statements made onRebel Media after the period in his initial statement, including a call for a ban on Islam. Ford called the attack "rich" citing the proximity to the closure of nominations, the previous statement, and defended Lawton as a "good candidate" that both Liberal Ontario premierKathleen Wynne and campaign co-chairDeb Matthews had been willing to join as guests on his shows.^[11][13] On May 23,PressProgress published a story about Lawton's comments on hisRebel Media show in March 2016 in which he argued for legalizing racial and gender discrimination in employment.^[14] On June 7, he was defeated by NDP incumbentPeggy Sattler.^[15]

Lawton served as the managing editor ofTrue North, where he hosted the namesakeThe Andrew Lawton Show.^[15]

During the 2022Public Order Emergency Commission inquiry into theFreedom Convoy protest earlier that year, Lawton was part of aSignal group chat used by convoy leaders and lawyers to coordinate social media messaging with right wing alternative media personalities from True North,Western Standard, andRebel Media and far-right influencers including self-identifiedwhite nationalists and associates ofDiagolon. Lawton was one of the most active participants and multiple tweets of his during the inquiry, such as specific video clips to share, were derived from brainstorming with others in the chat. When asked about his role during the2025 federal election, Lawton issued a statement characterizing his presence in the chat as a journalistic effort to reach sources and spread his work.^[12][16]

In June 2022, Lawton published his first book,The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World, withSutherland House Books. Lawton, who reported on the convoy for True North, used multiple exclusive interviews with convoy leaders and participants and advertised his book as one that would "tell the whole story" of the protest.^[17] In mid-July, it topped theToronto Star's weekly bestseller list for Canadian non-fiction books andThe Globe and Mail's weekly bestseller list for Canadian hardcover non-fiction.Indigo Books and Music declined to physically stock the book in stores, though did offer it for sale online.^[17]

In May 2024,^[18] he published his second book,^[15]Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life, a biography of theConservative Party leader also with Sutherland House. A review inThe Globe and Mail byJohn Ibbitson praised the work as helpful for introducing readers to Poilievre but criticized it for a surface-level analysis that ignored details that did not align with a Conservative worldview.^[18] A review byJeffrey Simpson in theLiterary Review of Canada described it as "well-researched" and "generous-to-a-fault".^[19]

In July 2024, Lawton announced that he would seek the Conservative nomination inElgin—St. Thomas—London South for the2025 federal election after Conservative MPKaren Vecchio announced that she would not seek reelection in the new riding. Lawton took a leave of absence fromTrue North to campaign and won the nomination in November,^[10][20] defeating a competitor endorsed by Vecchio.^[7] Vecchio later declined to endorse him, citing a desire for local voters to decide, his lack of ties to the riding, and how she was from the centrist wing while Lawton was from the right-leaning wing.^[20]

During the campaign, his role in theFreedom Convoy group chat during thePublic Order Emergency Commission inquiry was reported on and his past comments that hurt his 2018 provincial campaign resurfaced. The comments lead a local anti-Islamophobia group to call for his removal as Conservative candidate. Lawton defended the former as journalistic and the latter as "deeply hurtful" and again blamed his mental illness at the time. On April 12, a 200-person protest calling itself the "Stand Up for Decency Rally" was held in front of his campaign office inSt. Thomas.^[21][22] Lawton defeated Liberal candidate David Goodwin during the federal election on April 28.^[23]

Lawton is married toLondon Free Press reporter Jennifer Bieman.^[11][23] While Lawton did not live in his St. Thomas riding, he says that he has lived inLondon his entire life, and pledged to move to the riding after his 2025 electoral win.^[20][24]

Lawton suffered from mental illness from 2005 to 2013.^[2] In 2010, Lawton attemptedsuicide byoverdosing in a public bathroom, leading to a coma that lasted several weeks. After becoming a member of Parliament, he shared his story as part of the “I Got Better” campaign, which advocates for the passage of Bill C-218, the “Right to Recover Act,” which would criminalize providing “medical aid in dying” (MAiD) to individuals suffering exclusively from a mental illness.^[25][26]

In July 2025, a historic building inSt. Thomas that housed Lawton’s campaign office was destroyed in anarson attack. The suspect charged in the attack had previously been convicted on 14 charges. Lawton says the incident inspired him to pursuebail reform for repeat offenders.^[27]

In November 2025, during a meeting of theStanding Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Lawton revealed that he was the victim of sexual abuse as a child, and urged theLiberal government andJustice MinisterSean Fraser to use the notwithstanding clause of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to reintroduce mandatory minimum sentences for possession of child sexual exploitation and abuse material.^[28]

• Lawton, Andrew (June 24, 2022).The Freedom Convoy: The Inside Story of Three Weeks that Shook the World.Sutherland House Books.ISBN 978-1989555934.
• Lawton, Andrew (May 28, 2024).Pierre Poilievre: A Political Life.Sutherland House Books.ISBN 978-1990823800.

• Living people
• Conservative Party of Canada MPs
• 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
• Rebel News people

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Place of birth missing (living people)
• Year of birth missing (living people)