Ernest Preston Manning (born June 10, 1942) is a Canadian politician. He was a founder and the only leader of the Reform Party of Canada, a Canadian federal political party that evolved into the Canadian Alliance which in turn merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form today's Conservative Party of Canada. Manning represented the federal constituency of Calgary Southwest in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 until his retirement in 2002. He served as Leader of the Official Opposition from 1997 to 2000.