Randall Denley

Denley was born London, Ontario, Denley graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a journalism degree in 1973.[1]

Denley spent several years as a journalist and editor for the Owen Sound Sun Times[1] before joining the Ottawa Citizen as a journalist in 1983.[1] In 1992, he moved from the regular journalism beat to a political column with the paper, writing about both municipal and provincial politics.[1]

Denley's first novel, a murder mystery titled Necessary Victims, was serialized in the Citizen in 2004.[2] In 2006, he published The Perfect Candidate, a satire of local municipal politics in which Will Hacker, a former hockey player turned radio talk show host, is bribed by local developers to run a fake campaign for mayor of Ottawa.[3] His third novel, a murder mystery titled One Dead Sister, was published in 2010.[3]

Denley now publishes the occasional op-ed in newspapers like the National Post.

Denley took a leave of absence from the Citizen in 2011 to run as an Ontario Progressive Conservative Party candidate in Ottawa West—Nepean for the 2011 provincial election.[4] He briefly returned to the Citizen as an editorial writer after losing the election to incumbent MPP Bob Chiarelli, but retired from the paper in 2012.[5] He ran again in the 2014 election,[5] again losing to Chiarelli.[6]

Electoral record

2014 Ontario general election: Ottawa West—Nepean
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Bob Chiarelli	21,035	44.84	+4.06
	Progressive Conservative	Randall Denley	15,895	33.89	−6.06
	New Democratic	Alex Cullen	6,760	14.41	−0.51
	Green	Alex Hill	2,899	6.18	+2.67
	Libertarian	Matthew Brooks	318	0.68
Total valid votes			46,907	98.49
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			719	1.51
Turnout			47,626	55.95
Eligible voters			85,125
	Liberal hold		Swing		+5.06
Source(s) "General Election Results by District, 066 Ottawa West—Nepean". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.

2011 Ontario general election: Ottawa West—Nepean
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Bob Chiarelli	18,492	41.62	−1.83	$ 93,241.85
	Progressive Conservative	Randall Denley	17,483	39.35	+0.36	80,950.00
	New Democratic	Wendy Byrne	6,576	14.80	+6.35	13,936.09
	Green	Alex Hill	1,485	3.34	−4.96	3,113.29
	Family Coalition	John Pacheco	396	0.89		8,382.66
Total valid votes / Expense limit			44,432	100.00	+56.27	$ 97,809.67
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			174	0.39	−0.18
Turnout			44,606	54.27	+21.33
Eligible voters			82,187		−5.32
	Liberal hold		Swing		−1.10
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF). "Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" ( Excel Spreadsheet (71KB)). Elections Ontario. "2011 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved May 31, 2014.

• Randall Denley