New Democratic Party leadership elections, more commonly known as leadership conventions, are the process by which the Canadian New Democratic Party elects its leader.

Before 2003, when a modified one member, one vote (OMOV) system was adopted, every biennial New Democratic Party convention, since 1961, was a leadership convention. However, in practice, contested elections were held only when there was a declared leadership race. The earliest example of an incumbent leader being challenged from the convention floor happened in 1973 when Douglas Campbell unsuccessfully opposed David Lewis' leadership.[1] In 2001, Socialist Caucus member Marcel Hatch challenged Alexa McDonough from the floor of the convention; however, McDonough easily retained the leadership in the resulting vote.[2]

When the NDP was created by the merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), trade unions were allowed to directly affiliate to the party, and a system was unofficially arranged so that up to one-third of all delegates to NDP conventions were selected by labour and the other two-thirds by NDP riding associations.[3] This was also the case at leadership conventions, giving the labour movement a significant say in determining the party's leadership. Under the current system, each biennial federal convention includes a vote at which the delegates decide whether a leadership convention should be held.[3] Then-leader Thomas Mulcair lost such a vote at the 2016 convention, resulting in the 2017 leadership election being called.[4]

In practice, all three CCF leaders had been chosen by their parliamentary caucus and then elected unanimously at a subsequent national convention.

1961 leadership convention results

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on August 3, 1961.[5]

First Ballot
Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
DOUGLAS, Thomas Clement (Tommy) 1,391 78.5%
ARGUE, Hazen Robert 380 21.5%
Total 1,771 100%

1971 leadership convention results

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on April 24, 1971.

Delegate Support by Ballot
Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot
Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  %
LEWIS, David 661 38.9% 715 42.5% 742 44.1% 1,046 63.1%
LAXER, James 378 22.3% 407 24.1% 508 30.2% 612 36.9%
HARNEY, John Paul 299 17.6% 347 20.5% 431 25.6% Eliminated
BROADBENT, John Edward (Ed) 236 13.9% 223 13.1% Eliminated
HOWARD, Frank 124 7.3% Eliminated
Total 1,698 100.0% 1,692 100.0% 1,681 100.0% 1,658 100.0%

1973 leadership challenge results

Held in Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday, July 20, 1973.[1]

First Ballot
Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
LEWIS, David 719 90.4%
CAMPBELL, Douglas Kay 76 9.6%
Total 795 100%

1975 leadership convention results

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 7, 1975.

Delegate Support by Ballot
Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot
Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  %
BROADBENT, John Edward (Ed) 536 33.1% 586 36.1% 694 43.4% 984 61.5%
BROWN, Rosemary 413 23.5% 397 24.5% 494 30.9% 658 41.1%
NYSTROM, Lorne Edmund 345 21.3% 342 21.1% 413 25.8% Eliminated
HARNEY, John Paul 313 19.4% 299 18.4% Eliminated
CAMPBELL, Douglas Kay 11 0.6% Eliminated
Total 1,618 100.0% 1,624 100.0% 1,601 100.0% 1,642 100.0%

1989 leadership convention results

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on December 2, 1989.

Delegate Support by Ballot
Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot
Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  %
MCLAUGHLIN, Audrey Marlene 646 26.9% 829 34.3% 1,072 44.4% 1,316 55.1%
BARRETT, David (Dave) 566 23.6% 780 32.3% 947 39.3% 1,072 44.9%
LANGDON, Steven W. 351 14.6% 519 21.5% 393 16.3% Eliminated
DE JONG, Simon Leendert 315 13.1% 289 12.0% Endorsed McLaughlin
MCCURDY, Howard Douglas 256 10.7% Withdrew
WADDELL, Ian Gardiner 213 8.9% Withdrew
LAGASSÉ, Roger 53 2.2% Eliminated
Total 2,400 100.0% 2,417 100.0% 2,412 100.0% 2,388 100.0%

1995 leadership convention results

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on October 14, 1995.

Support by Round
Candidate Primaries 1st ballot
Votes cast  %
NYSTROM, Lorne Edmund 44.69% 545 31.5%
ROBINSON, Svend 32.06% 655 37.8%
MCDONOUGH, Alexa Ann 18.47% 566 32.6%
HARDIN, Herschel 12.8% Did not endorse
Total 100.0% 1,735 100.0%

The NDP held a series of regional and labour "caucus votes" prior to the national convention. A fourth candidate, Herschel Hardin, participated in the regional caucuses but did not win sufficient delegate support to qualify for the convention. These "primaries" were OMOV.

As the last place finisher on the first ballot, Nystrom was dropped. However, Robinson determined that he could not win on the second ballot if Nystrom's supporters moved to McDonough, as they were expected to, thus he withdrew and McDonough was declared the winner.

2001 leadership challenge results

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Sunday, November 25, 2001.

Marcel Hatch, a leader of the NDP's Socialist Caucus, stood for leader as a challenge to Alexa McDonough's leadership.[6]

First Ballot
Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
MCDONOUGH, Alexa Ann 645 84.31%
HATCH, Marcel 120 15.69%
Total 765 100%

There were 42 spoiled ballots. If these are factored in McDonough's level of support was 78% overall.[7]

2003 leadership election results

Held in Toronto, Ontario on January 25, 2003.

First Ballot
Candidate Votes
(Adjusted)		 Percentage
LAYTON, John Gilbert (Jack) 31,150 53.5%
BLAIKIE, William Alexander (Bill) 14,365 24.7%
NYSTROM, Lorne Edmund 5,397 9.3%
COMARTIN, Joseph John (Joe) 4,490 7.7%
DUCASSE, Pierre 2,155 3.7%
MESLO, Beverley (Bev) 645 1.1%
Total 58,202 100%

For this election, the NDP instituted a modified one member one vote system. Votes by labour delegates accounted for 25% of the total result, while votes cast by party members accounted for 75%. The carve out for labour was eliminated prior to the 2012 election.

2012 leadership election

The leadership convention was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on March 24, 2012.[8][9] There were 128,351 eligible voters, most voting from home and not delegates at the convention.[10]

The party chose Thomas Mulcair as their new leader following the death of Jack Layton on August 22, 2011. A One member, one vote process was used.[11]

  = Eliminated from next round
  = Withdrew nomination
  = Winner
Support by Ballot
Candidate 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot
Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  % Votes cast  %
MULCAIR, Thomas Joseph (Tom) 19,728 30.3% 23,902 38.3% 27,488 43.8% 33,881 57.2%
TOPP, Brian 13,915 21.4% 15,624 25.0% 19,822 31.6% 25,329 42.8%
CULLEN, Nathan 10,671 16.4% 12,449 19.9% 15,426 24.6% Did not endorse
NASH, Peggy A. 8,353 12.8% 10,519 16.8% Did not endorse
DEWAR, Paul W. 4,883 7.5% Did not endorse
SINGH, Jarnail Martin John 3,821 5.9% Endorsed Mulcair
ASHTON, Niki Christina 3,737 5.7% Did not endorse
SAGANASH, Diom Roméo Endorsed Mulcair
CHISHOLM, Robert Lawrence Endorsed Mulcair
Total 65,108 100.0% 62,494 100.0% 62,736 100.0% 59,210 100.0%

2017 leadership election

Voting was held between September 18 to October 1, 2017. The results were announced on October 1 in Toronto, Ontario at the Westin Harbour Castle.

First Ballot
Candidate Votes Percentage
SINGH, Jagmeet Jimmy Dhaliwal35,26653.8%
ANGUS, Charles Joseph (Charlie)12,70519.4%
ASHTON, Niki Christina11,37417.4%
CARON, Guy6,1649.4%
Total65,782100%
  • Spoiled ballots: 101
  • Abstentions: 172
  • Turnout: 52.8% (Increase1.9pp)[12]

References and notes

  1. 1 2 Special to The Star (July 21, 1973). "David Lewis keeps leadership of NDP". The Toronto Star. Torstar. p. A9.
  2. ↑ Lawton, Valerie (November 26, 2001). "McDonough still rules NDP's house divided". The Toronto Star. Toronto. pp. A1, A18.
  3. 1 2 Morton, Desmond (1986). The New Democrats 1961–86. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd. pp. 229–235. ISBN 0-7730-4618-6.
  4. ↑ "Tom Mulcair's biggest weakness also his greatest strength: bringing NDP to the centre | CBC News".
  5. ↑ Sears, Val (August 4, 1961). "New Democratic Party Hails Douglas as Leader". The Toronto Star. Toronto. p. 1.
  6. ↑ Canadian Press with Globe and Mail Update (November 25, 2001). "McDonough fends off leadership challenge". Online Edition. The Globe and Mail Newspaper. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
  7. ↑ "NDP agrees on McDonough, little else", Torstar News Service, The Cambridge Reporter, November 26, 2001
  8. ↑ "We're going bigger: NDP Leadership 2012 venue change". New Democratic Party. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  9. ↑ Canadian Press (February 9, 2012). "NDP Convention: Record Turnout Prompts Venue Change To Metro Toronto Convention Centre". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  10. ↑ McLeod, Paul (March 24, 2012). "Mulcair wins NDP leadership". Chronicle Herald. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
  11. ↑ LeBlanc, Daniel (September 8, 2011). "Federal NDP rejects special role for unions in selecting leader". Globe and Mail. Canada. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
  12. ↑ Ballingball, Alex (October 1, 2017). "Jagmeet Singh wins the NDP leadership race". The Toronto Star. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
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