Tony Leon
| Tony Leon | |
|---|---|
 |
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| South Africa Ambassador to Argentina | |
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In office September 2009 – October 2012 |
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| President | Jacob Zuma |
| Succeeded by | Zenani Mandela-Dlamini |
| Leader of the Democratic Alliance | |
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In office 1994 (DP) – 5 May 2007 |
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| Succeeded by | Helen Zille |
| Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly | |
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In office 1999 – 5 May 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Marthinus van Schalkwyk (NNP) |
| Succeeded by | Sandra Botha |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
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In office 1994–2009 |
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| Member of the House of Assembly | |
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In office 1989–1994 |
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| Constituency | Houghton |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
15 December 1956 Durban, Natal Province, Union of South Africa |
| Political party | Democratic Alliance |
| Spouse(s) | Michal Leon |
| Children | Noa Etai |
| Alma mater | University of Witwatersrand |
| Religion | Judaism |
Anthony James "Tony" Leon (born 15 December 1956) is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He led the DA from its inception in 2000, until his retirement from leadership in 2007. Before that, he led the Democratic Party from 1994. He is the longest serving leader of the official opposition in parliament since the advent of democracy in 1994. Although still a member of the DA, he served as the South African Ambassador to Argentina under the ANC government from 2009 to 2012.
Since 2012, Leon has been serving as Executive Chairman of Resolve Communications (Pty) Ltd - a South African-based advocacy for reputation management and strategic communications consultancy, and a Senior Advisor to K2 Intelligence, a London-NY based international investigative and risk analytics consultancy founded by Jules and Jeremy Kroll in 2009. Leon is also a contracted columnist to Times Media Group Ltd, his columns appearing weekly or monthly in Business Day, Sunday Times, and the Times respectively.
Leon was born and raised in Durban during the apartheid era. He was educated at Clifton Preparatory School and Kearsney College near Durban. His father Ramon Leon was a High Court Judge. Both his parents were active in the liberal, anti-apartheid Progressive Party (which later became the Democratic Party).
In 1974 at the age of 18 he became an organiser for the Progressive Party, one of the two opposition parties represented in parliament at the time. After this, he qualified as an attorney at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he was President of the Law Students' Council and Vice-President of the Students' Representative Council, and became a lecturer in the Law Department in 1986. He has accredited Harry Schwarz and Helen Suzman as his biggest inspirations. In the same year he was elected to the Johannesburg City Council for Yeoville. When the results for the election were released, it was announced that the NP candidate Sam Bloomberg had won. However Harry Schwarz, his political mentor, uncovered that this was untrue, and Leon was declared the winner. He became leader of the opposition in the city council.
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