he served as Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, Party Spokesperson on Environment and Planning and Deputy Party Spokesperson on Economic Development and Tourism. Provincial ministerships Premier Helen Zille appointed Winde to the position of Provincial Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism following his re-election in May 2009. Constitutional Court Judge Yvonne Mokgoro swore him in as Provincial Minister on 7 May 2009. He consequently succeeded Garth Strachan. During his tenure, he criticised immigration regulations introduced by the national government, which he alleged had harmed tourism growth in the Western Cape, and organised petitions against the regulations. After the 2014 election, Zille announced that Winde would now hold the title of Provincial Minister of Economic Opportunities and only lead the Provincial Departments of Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism. The Provincial Finance Department would be an independent department with its own Provincial Minister. Western Cape Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso swore him in on 26 May 2014. As Provincial Minister of Economic Opportunities, Winde announced in 2017 that during the First Thursday event in Cape Town, the provincial government would host talk shops where people could directly speak with government officials. During the drought that ravaged the Western Cape province from 2017 to 2018, he argued for farmers to keep hold of their private agricultural water supply, even when their local municipalities had a shortage of water. Zille announced in October 2018 that Winde would move to the Provincial Community Safety Department as incumbent Provincial Minister Dan Plato had announced his intention to resign. Winde was succeeded by Beverley Schäfer on 1 November 2018. He subsequently assumed the post of Provincial Minister of Community Safety. Winde has served as acting Premier of the Western Cape on various brief occasions when Zille was unavailable. In February 2019, Zille was in Germany, and so Winde was sworn in as acting premier. He consequently represented the provincial government at the State of the Nation Address held in the same month. 2019 electoral campaign Winde emerged as the front-runner quite early on in the Democratic Alliance selection process for the party's candidate for Western Cape Premier. On 19 September 2018, Democratic Alliance Federal Leader, Mmusi Maimane, announced Winde as the party's candidate to succeed Zille after the 2019 elections. Winde defeated prominent candidates such as the Provincial Leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape, Bonginkosi Madikizela, and Member of Parliament David Maynier