Peter MacKay is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served in various ministerial positions in the administration of 22nd Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. These included Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007–2013) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2007). For eighteen years – 1997 to 2015 – he was a Member of Parliament, first representing Pictou–Antigonish-Guysborough (1997 to 2004) and later Central Nova (2004 to 2015). He was the leader of Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for a short period of time and led its merger with the Canadian Alliance headed by Stephen Harper. The merger resulted in the formation of a new party called Conservative Party of Canada of which Peter MacKay became the deputy leader. Earlier, he studied law and established a private law practice before being appointed the Crown Attorney with the Nova Scotia government. He then turned towards politics and got elected for the House of Commons of Canada for the first time in 1997. In 2015, he took a hiatus from federal politics and returned to law profession. In 2020, he returned to fight the election of Conservative party leader; however, he was defeated.