Leon, Tony, 1956-

Anthony James 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, Uruguay and Paraguay under the African National Congress 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 consultant to various international companies. Leon is also a contracted columnist to Arena Holdings Ltd, with his columns appearing weekly or monthly in Business Day, Sunday Times, and BusinessLive. He is also the author of five books.