New Democratic Party leadership elections
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]
[edit] 1961 leadership convention results
Held in Ottawa, Ontario on August 3, 1961.[4]
First Ballot[4]
| Candidate | Delegate Support | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Tommy Douglas | 1,391 | 78.5% |
| Hazen Argue | 380 | 21.5% |
| Total | 1,771 | 100% |
[edit] 1971 leadership convention results
Held in Ottawa, Ontario on April 24, 1971.
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | 3rd ballot | 4th ballot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % |
| David Lewis | 661 | 38.9% | 715 | 42.5% | 742 | 44.1% | 1046 | 63.1% |
| James Laxer | 378 | 22.3% | 407 | 24.1% | 508 | 30.2% | 612 | 36.9% |
| John Paul Harney | 299 | 17.6% | 347 | 20.5% | 431 | 25.6% | ||
| Ed Broadbent | 236 | 13.9% | 223 | 13.1% | ||||
| Frank Howard | 124 | 7.3% | ||||||
| Total | 1,698 | 100.0% | 1,692 | 100.0% | 1,681 | 100.0% | 1,658 | 100.0% |
[edit] 1973 leadership challenge results
Held in Vancouver, British Columbia on Friday, July 20, 1973.[1]
| Candidate | Delegate Support | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| David Lewis | 719 | 90.4% |
| Douglas Campbell | 76 | 9.55% |
| Total | 795 | 100% |
[edit] 1975 leadership convention results
Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 7, 1975.
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | 3rd ballot | 4th ballot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % |
| Ed Broadbent | 536 | 33.1% | 586 | 36.1% | 694 | 43.4% | 984 | 61.5% |
| Rosemary Brown | 413 | 23.5% | 397 | 24.5% | 494 | 30.9% | 658 | 41.1% |
| Lorne Nystrom | 345 | 21.3% | 342 | 21.1% | 413 | 25.8% | ||
| John Paul Harney | 313 | 19.4% | 299 | 18.4% | ||||
| Douglas Campbell | 11 | 0.6% | ||||||
| Total | 1,618 | 100.0% | 1,624 | 100.0% | 1,601 | 100.0% | 1,642 | 100.0% |
[edit] 1989 leadership convention results
Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on December 2, 1989.
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | 3rd ballot | 4th ballot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % |
| Audrey McLaughlin | 646 | 26.9% | 829 | 34.3% | 1,072 | 44.4% | 1,316 | 55.1% |
| Dave Barrett | 566 | 23.6% | 780 | 32.3% | 947 | 39.3% | 1,072 | 44.9% |
| Steven Langdon | 351 | 14.6% | 519 | 21.5% | 393 | 16.3% | ||
| Simon De Jong | 315 | 13.1% | 289 | 12.0% | ||||
| Howard McCurdy | 256 | 10.7% | ||||||
| Ian Waddell | 213 | 8.9% | ||||||
| Roger Lagasse | 53 | 2.2% | ||||||
| Total | 2,400 | 100.0% | 2,417 | 100.0% | 2,412 | 100.0% | 2,388 | 100.0% |
[edit] 1995 leadership convention results
Held in Ottawa, Ontario on October 14, 1995.
| Candidate | Delegate Support | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Svend Robinson | 655 | 37.8% |
| Alexa McDonough | 566 | 32.6% |
| Lorne Nystrom | 545 | 31.5% |
| Total | 1,735 | 100% |
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.
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.
Primaries
| Candidate | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Lorne Nystrom | 44.69% |
| Svend Robinson | 32.06% |
| Alexa McDonough | 18.47% |
| Herschel Hardin | 4.78% |
| Total | 100% |
[edit] 2001 leadership challenge results
Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Sunday, November 25, 2001.[5]
| Candidate | Delegate Support | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Alexa McDonough | 645 | 82.2% |
| Marcel Hatch | 120 | 15.3% |
| Total | 785 | 100% |
There were 42 spoiled ballots. If these are factored in McDonough's level of support was 78% overall.[6]
[edit] 2003 leadership election results
Held in Toronto, Ontario on January 25, 2003.
| Candidate | Votes (adjusted) | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Layton | 31,150 | 53.5% |
| Bill Blaikie | 14,365 | 24.7% |
| Lorne Nystrom | 5,397 | 9.3% |
| Joe Comartin | 4,490 | 7.7% |
| Pierre Ducasse | 2,155 | 3.7% |
| Bev Meslo | 645 | 1.1% |
| Total | 58,202 | 100% |
For this election, the NDP instituted a modified one member one vote system in which the vote is calculated so that ballots cast by labour delegates have 25% weight in the total result, while votes cast by party members have 75%. The carve out for labour was eliminiated prior to the 2012 election.
[edit] 2012 leadership election
A leadership election will be held on March 24, 2012, to choose a permanent successor for Jack Layton, who died August 22, 2011.[7] The convention at which the results will be announced will be held at Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto.[8][9] The election will occur with a straight One Member One Vote process without the 25% carve out for labour delegates that had been employed in 2003.[10]
[edit] References and notes
- ^ a b Special to The Star (1973-07-21). "David Lewis keeps leadership of NDP". The Toronto Star (Torstar): p. A9.
- ^ Lawton, Valerie (2001-11-26). "McDonough still rules NDP's house divided". The Toronto Star (Toronto): pp. A1, A18.
- ^ a b Morton, Desmond (1986). The New Democrats 1961–86. Toronto: Copp Clark Pitman Ltd.. pp. 229–235. ISBN 0-7730-4618-6.
- ^ a b Sears, Val (1961-08-04). "New Democratic Party Hails Douglas as Leader". The Toronto Star (Toronto): p. 1.
- ^ "McDonough fends off leadership challenge". Online Edition (The Globe and Mail Newspaper). 2001-11-25. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20011125.wndppvo%2FBNStory%2FFront%2F&ord=6899195&brand=theglobeandmail&redirect_reason=2&denial_reasons=15885961%3A0%3B14894981%3A0%3B17167241%3A16%3B15497601%3A0%3B14279381%3A0%3B16476981%3A0%3B8694701%3A0%3B7798161%3A0%3B8059321%3A0%3B16598921%3A4%3B7193461%3A0%3B13651401%3A0%3B9337521%3A0%3B6926821%3A0%3B15604741%3A0%3B&force_login=false&force_ppv=true. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
- ^ "NDP agrees on McDonough, little else", Torstar News Service, The Cambridge Reporter, November 26, 2001
- ^ Layton, Jack. "A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton". New Democratic Party of Canada. http://www.ndp.ca/letter-to-canadians-from-jack-layton. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^ "We're going bigger: NDP Leadership 2012 venue change". New Democratic Party of Canada. http://leadership2012.ndp.ca/home. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
- ^ Canadian Press (February 9, 2012). "NDP Convention: Record Turnout Prompts Venue Change To Metro Toronto Convention Centre". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/02/09/ndp-convention-leadership-toronto_n_1266246.html. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
- ^ LeBlanc, Daniel (September 8, 2011). "Federal NDP rejects special role for unions in selecting leader". Globe and Mail (Canada). http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/federal-ndp-rejects-special-role-for-unions-in-selecting-leader/article2159042/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Politics&utm_content=2159042. Retrieved September 8, 2011.
