The leader of the New Democratic Party (French: ) is the highest position in the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Avi Lewis was elected as the ninth and current leader in the leadership election in March 2026.
History The New Democratic Party was founded in 1961 following the merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Canadian Labour Congress. Prior to the merger, the CCF had three leaders from its founding in 1932 until the 1961 merger, with J. S. Woodsworth serving as the CCF's first leader. Following Woodsworth's death in 1942, he was replaced by M. J. Coldwell, who led the party to their best electoral performance in 1945 by winning 28 seats.
Coldwell ended up losing his seat in the 1958 election leading to a party leadership crisis. Hazen Argue, the CCF member of Parliament for Assiniboia, was named the parliamentary leader due to Coldwell's absence from the House of Commons, however he continuously persuaded Coldwell to officially step down as leader. At the time, the CCF executives were in the process of transitioning their party into a new party with closer ties to organized labour, and wanted Tommy Douglas to become the party leader. This merger was something Argue opposed, and fearing that Argue's leadership would derail the merger, party president David Lewis tried to prevent Argue from initiating a leadership challenge during the 1960 CCF convention. This attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, and Coldwell resigned on August 10, 1960. The CCF caucus elected Argue as the new leader on the following day.
Despite the leadership crisis, the merger talks continued, and eventually culminated in the New Democratic Party founding convention in the summer of 1961. During the convention, the NDP was formally established on August 3, 1961. On the same day, Argue and Douglas ran against each other for the party leadership, with Douglas winning a landslide victory to become the first leader of the NDP. Argue left the party for the Liberals shortly afterwards.
The NDP's most successful leader was Jack Layton, who served as leader from 2004 to 2011, and led the NDP to a 103 seat result in the 2011 Canadian federal election. The NDP won the second-most seats in the House of Commons, and Layton became the first leader of the NDP to serve as the leader of the Official Opposition. However, his tenure as opposition leader was very short lived, as he died from cancer a few months later.
In the 2017 New Democratic Party leadership election, the party elected Jagmeet Singh, making him the first visible minority to lead a major Canadian federal political party. Singh, who was a member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament at the time, resigned his provincial seat and was first elected to the House of Commons on February 25, 2019 for the riding of Burnaby South.
Selection process
According to the New Democratic Party's constitution, the leader of the NDP must be selected through a leadership election in-which all party members may vote. Each leadership election must use an instant-runoff voting system, where the new leader is elected once they receive 50%+1 of the votes cast in the final round of voting.
If the leadership position becomes vacant, the party's national council may appoint an interim leader until a leadership convention can be held. This has happened on two occasions, the appointment of Nycole Turmel as interim leader following the death of Jack Layton in 2011, and the appointment of Don Davies as interim leader following the resignation of Jagmeet Singh after the party's defeat in the 2025 Canadian federal election.
List of leaders +Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (1932–1961) No. Portrait Leader Tenure Riding(s)Prime Minister(s) while leader Took office Left office Time in office1(1874–1942)August 1, 1932March 21, 1942Winnipeg North Centre Winnipeg Centre Bennett ConservativeKing Liberal 2(1888–1974)July 29, 1942August 10, 1960Rosetown—Biggar St. Laurent Liberal Diefenbaker PC 3 (1921–1991) August 11, 1960 August 2, 1961 Wood Mountain Assiniboia +New Democratic Party (1961–present) No. Portrait Leader Tenure Riding(s)Prime Minister(s) while leader Took office Left office Time in office1Tommy Douglas(1904–1986)August 3, 1961April 24, 1971 Burnaby—Coquitlam Nanaimo—Cowichan—The Islands Diefenbaker PC Pearson Liberal P. Trudeau Liberal 2 David Lewis(1909–1981) April 24, 1971 July 7, 1975 York South 3Ed Broadbent(1936–2024)July 7, 1975December 5, 1989Oshawa–Whitby Oshawa Clark PC P. Trudeau Liberal Turner Liberal Mulroney PC 4Audrey McLaughlin(b. 1936)December 5, 1989October 14, 1995Yukon Campbell PC Chrétien Liberal 5 Alexa McDonough(1944–2022) October 14, 1995 January 25, 2003 Halifax 6Jack Layton(1950–2011)January 25, 2003August 22, 2011Toronto–Danforth Martin Liberal Harper Conservative — Nycole Turmel(interim leader)(b. 1942) August 22, 2011 March 24, 2012 Hull—Aylmer 7Tom Mulcair(b. 1954)March 24, 2012October 1, 2017Outremont J. Trudeau Liberal 8Jagmeet Singh(b. 1979)October 1, 2017May 5, 2025Burnaby South Carney Liberal — Don Davies(interim leader)(b. 1963) May 5, 2025 March 29, 2026 Vancouver Kingsway 9 Avi Lewis(b. 1967)March 29, 2026Incumbent –
Related positions Deputy leaders
NDP deputy leader Term start Term end Riding(s) NDP leader Notes Bill Blaikie Elmwood—Transcona Jack Layton Tom Mulcair Outremont Jack LaytonNycole Turmel Libby Davies Vancouver East Jack LaytonNycole TurmelTom Mulcair Megan Leslie Halifax Tom Mulcair David Christopherson Hamilton Centre Tom MulcairJagmeet Singh Sheri Benson Saskatoon West Jagmeet Singh Alexandre Boulerice April 27, 2026 Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie Jagmeet SinghDon DaviesAvi Lewis
Federal caucus leadership positions House Leaders
NDP house leader Term start Term end Riding(s) Notes Stanley Knowles Winnipeg North Centre Ian Deans Hamilton Mountain Acting NDP house leader from 1981 to 1984 Nelson Riis Kamloops—Shuswap Kamloops Len Taylor The Battlefords—Meadow Lake Bill Blaikie Winnipeg—Transcona Libby Davies Vancouver East Tom Mulcair Outremont Opposition House Leader Joe Comartin Windsor—Tecumseh Nathan Cullen Skeena—Bulkley Valley Peter Julian Burnaby—New Westminster New Westminster—Burnaby Opposition House Leader Murray Rankin Victoria Peter Julian New Westminster—Burnaby Ruth Ellen Brosseau Berthier—Maskinongé Peter Julian New Westminster—Burnaby Alexandre Boulerice Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie Heather McPherson Incumbent Edmonton Strathcona
Party whips
NDP party whips Term start Term end Riding(s) Notes Stanley Knowles 1962 December 1972 Winnipeg North Centre William George Knight January 3, 1973 1974 Assiniboia Lorne Edmund Nystrom June 1974 1981 Yorkton—Melville Neil Young October 1981 October 28, 1984 Beaches Victor Fredrich Althouse October 29, 1984 September 4, 1986 Humboldt—Lake Centre Rodney Edward Murphy September 5, 1986 January 21, 1990 Churchill Iain Angus January 22, 1990 October 24, 1993 Thunder Bay—Atikokan Christopher Axworthy September 6, 1994 January 10, 1996 Saskatoon—Clark's Crossing John Solomon January 11, 1996 January 30, 2000 Regina—Lumsden Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre Yvon Godin February 1, 2000 May 25, 2011 Acadie—Bathurst Chief Opposition Whip Chris Charlton May 26, 2011 April 18, 2012 Hamilton Mountain Chief Opposition Whip Nycole Turmel April 19, 2012 November 11, 2015 Hull—Aylmer Chief Opposition Whip Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet November 12, 2015 March 13, 2019 Hochelaga Ruth Ellen Brosseau March 14, 2019 October 20, 2019 Berthier—Maskinongé Rachel Blaney November 26, 2019 April 4, 2024 North Island—Powell River Heather McPherson April 5, 2024 April 28, 2025 Edmonton Strathcona Don Davies April 10, 2026 Incumbent Vancouver Kingsway
Parliamentary leaders
David Lewis (1961–1962; 1968–1969) Ed Broadbent (1974–1975) Audrey McLaughlin (1995–1997) Bill Blaikie (2003–2004) Guy Caron (2017–2019) Don Davies (2026–present)
Party executive positions Presidents Michael Kelway Oliver (1961–1963) Merv Johnson (1963–1965) Eamon Park (1965–1967) James Renwick (1967–1969) Allan Blakeney (1969–1971)"Moderate elected president; Watkins joins executive", The Globe and Mail, Nov 1, 1969 Donald C. MacDonald (1971–1975) Joyce Nash (1975–1977) Alvin Hewitt (1977–1981) Tony Penikett (1981–1985) Marion Dewar (1985–1987) Johanna den Hertog (1987–1989) Sandra Mitchell (1989–1991) Nancy Riche (1991–1995) Iain Angus (1995–1997) Ed Tchorzewski (1997–1999) Dave MacKinnon (c. 1999–2000)"New Democrats grit teeth over MP's outbursts", Montreal Gazette, June 17, 1999 Adam Giambrone (2001–2006) Anne McGrath (2006–2009) Peggy Nash (2009–2011) Brian Topp (2011) Rebecca Blaikie (2011–2016) Marit Stiles (2016–2018) Mathieu Vick (2018–2021) Dhananjai Kohli (2021–2023) Mary Shortall (2023–2026) Niall Ricardo (2026–present)
Vice presidents Laurie Antonin (2023–2026) Libby Davies (2026–present)
See also History of the New Democratic Party New Democratic Party leadership elections List of Canadian conservative leaders Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada
Notes
References