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Cecil Clarke
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|---|---|
| Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly | |
| In office June 29, 2006 – October 23, 2007 | |
| Premier | Rodney MacDonald |
| Lieutenant Governor | Myra Freeman Mayann Francis |
| Preceded by | Murray Scott |
| Succeeded by | Alfie MacLeod |
| Member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly for Cape Breton North | |
| In office March 6, 2001 – March 25, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Russell MacLellan |
| Succeeded by | Eddie Orrell |
| Mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality | |
| In office November 5, 2012 – October 17, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | John W. Morgan |
| Succeeded by | Amanda McDougall |
| Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Nova Scotia and Provincial Secretary of Nova Scotia | |
| In office September 23, 2007 – June 19, 2009 | |
| Preceded by | Murray Scott |
| Succeeded by | Ross Landry |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Cecil Phillip Clarke (1968-04-12) April 12, 1968 (age 56) North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Residence(s) | Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia, Canada |
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Cecil Phillip Clarke (born April 12, 1968) is a politician in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was the mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality from 2012 to 2020, and represented the riding of Cape Breton North in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, from 2001 to 2011 as a Progressive Conservative.
Born in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Clarke graduated with a bachelor's degree from Mount Allison University in 1990.[citation needed]
In the 1997 federal election, Clarke made his first attempt at entering politics, running as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Sydney—Victoria.[1] He finished third behind New Democrat Peter Mancini, and Liberal Vince MacLean.[2] Clarke turned to provincial politics and was elected in a March 2001 byelection.[3][4] He was re-elected in the 2003,[5] 2006[6] and 2009 general elections.[7] He served in the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Economic Development, Minister of Energy,[8] Attorney General and Minister of Justice as well as Provincial Secretary.[9] Clarke was Speaker of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia from June 2006 to October 2007.
In July 2010, Clarke announced that he was seeking the federal Conservative nomination for the riding of Sydney—Victoria.[10] On March 25, 2011, Clarke resigned his seat in the Nova Scotia legislature so he could run for the Conservatives in the 2011 federal election.[11][12] On May 2, 2011, Clarke was defeated in his bid for a seat in the House of Commons of Canada by Liberal incumbent Mark Eyking.[13]
On September 6, 2012, Clarke announced that he was entering the race for mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in the 2012 Nova Scotia municipal elections.[14] On October 20, 2012, Clarke was elected mayor.[15] He assumed office on November 5, 2012.[16]
Clarke was re-elected mayor in the 2016 municipal election.[17]
Clarke was criticized in early 2018 for a trip to China which cost taxpayers over $30,000 and included first-class tickets for himself.[18]
In 2018, Clarke came out as gay, revealing that someone had threatened to out him.[19]
On February 3, 2018, Clarke announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia.[20] He lost to Tim Houston on October 27, 2018.[21] Clarke was defeated when he ran for re-election in the 2020 municipal election.[22]
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Mark Eyking | 14,788 | 39.91 | -9.49 | $67,454.53 | |||
| Conservative | Cecil Clarke | 14,023 | 37.85 | +17.23 | $77,334.98 | |||
| New Democratic | Kathy MacLeod | 7,049 | 19.02 | -5.42 | $17,238.77 | |||
| Green | Chris Milburn | 1,191 | 3.21 | -2.33 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 37,051 | 100.0 | $80,666.28 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 279 | 0.75 | +0.03 | |||||
| Turnout | 37,330 | 61.48 | +4.07 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 60,719 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -13.36 | ||||||
| Sources:[23][24] | ||||||||
| 2009 Nova Scotia general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cecil Clarke | 3,477 | 44.47 | -6.24 | ||||
| New Democratic | Russell MacDonald | 3,312 | 42.36 | +16.53 | ||||
| Liberal | Ken Jardine | 921 | 11.78 | -10.21 | ||||
| Green | Chris Milburn | 108 | 1.38 | -0.09 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 7,818 | 99.42 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 0.58 | – | ||||||
| Turnout | 7,864 | 54.62 | -6.05 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 14,397 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | -11.39 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Nova Scotia[25] | ||||||||
| 2006 Nova Scotia general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cecil Clarke | 4,310 | 50.71 | +7.25 | ||||
| New Democratic | Russell MacDonald | 2,195 | 25.83 | +5.98 | ||||
| Liberal | Fred Tilley | 1,869 | 21.99 | -14.70 | ||||
| Green | Marc Doucet | 125 | 1.47 | +1.47 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 8,499 | 99.53 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 40 | 0.47 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 8,539 | 60.67 | -4.88 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 14,075 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +6.61 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Nova Scotia[25] | ||||||||
| 2003 Nova Scotia general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cecil Clarke | 3,754 | 43.46 | +5.24 | ||||
| Liberal | Mike White | 3,169 | 36.69 | +4.21 | ||||
| New Democratic | Cecil Snow | 1,714 | 19.85 | -9.45 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 8,637 | 99.15 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 0.85 | – | ||||||
| Turnout | 8,711 | 65.55 | -2.39 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 13,288 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | +4.73 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Nova Scotia[25] | ||||||||
| Nova Scotia provincial by-election, March 6, 2001 upon the resignation of Russell MacLellan | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cecil Clarke | 3,024 | 38.22 | +16.74 | ||||
| Liberal | Wes Stubbert | 2,570 | 32.48 | -16.21 | ||||
| New Democratic | Helen MacDonald | 2,319 | 29.30 | -0.53 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 7,913 | 99.48 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 41 | 0.52 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 7,954 | 67.94 | -5.63 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 11,708 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +16.48 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Nova Scotia[26] | ||||||||
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| New Democratic | Peter Mancini | 22,455 | 51.1 | |||||
| Liberal | Vince MacLean | 11,569 | 26.3 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Cecil Clarke | 9,920 | 22.6 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 43,944 | 100.0 | ||||||
