Leader of the New Democratic Party


The leader of the New Democratic Party is the highest position within Canada's federal New Democratic Party. The current leader is Don Davies, the member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway, who is serving as the interim leader following the resignation of Jagmeet Singh. The next leader will be decided by the upcoming 2026 New Democratic Party leadership election.

History

The New Democratic Party was founded in 1961 following the merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation 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

Related positions

Deputy leaders

NDP deputy leaderTerm startTerm endRidingNDP leaderNotes
Bill BlaikieElmwood—TransconaJack Layton-
Tom MulcairOutremontJack Layton
Nycole Turmel		-
Libby DaviesVancouver EastJack Layton
Nycole Turmel
Tom Mulcair		-
Megan LeslieHalifaxTom Mulcair-
David ChristophersonHamilton CentreTom Mulcair
Jagmeet Singh		-
Sheri BensonSaskatoon WestJagmeet Singh-
Alexandre BoulericeincumbentRosemont—La Petite-PatrieJagmeet Singh
Don Davies		-

Federal caucus leadership positions

House Leaders

NDP house leaderTerm startTerm endRidingNotes
Stanley KnowlesWinnipeg North Centre-
Ian DeansHamilton MountainActing NDP house leader from 1981 to 1984
Nelson RiisKamloops—Shuswap
Kamloops 		-
Len TaylorThe Battlefords—Meadow Lake-
Bill BlaikieWinnipeg—Transcona-
Libby DaviesVancouver East-
Tom MulcairOutremontOpposition House Leader
Joe ComartinWindsor—TecumsehOpposition House Leader
Nathan CullenSkeena—Bulkley ValleyOpposition House Leader
Peter Julian
Burnaby—New Westminster
New Westminster—Burnaby 		Opposition House Leader
Murray RankinVictoria-
Peter Julian
New Westminster—Burnaby-
Ruth Ellen BrosseauBerthier—Maskinongé-
Peter Julian
New Westminster—Burnaby-
Alexandre BoulericeincumbentRosemont—La Petite-Patrie-

Party whips

NDP party whipsTerm startTerm endRidingNotes
Stanley Knowles1962December 1972Winnipeg North Centre-
William George KnightJanuary 3, 19731974Assiniboia-
Lorne Edmund NystromJune 19741981Yorkton—Melville-
Neil YoungOctober 1981October 28, 1984Beaches-
Victor Fredrich AlthouseOctober 29, 1984September 4, 1986Humboldt—Lake Centre-
Rodney Edward MurphySeptember 5, 1986January 21, 1990Churchill-
Iain AngusJanuary 22, 1990October 24, 1993Thunder Bay—Atikokan-
Christopher AxworthySeptember 6, 1994January 10, 1996Saskatoon—Clark's Crossing-
John SolomonJanuary 11, 1996January 30, 2000Regina—Lumsden
Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre 		-
Yvon GodinFebruary 1, 2000May 25, 2011Acadie—BathurstChief Opposition Whip
Chris CharltonMay 26, 2011April 18, 2012Hamilton MountainChief Opposition Whip
Nycole TurmelApril 19, 2012November 11, 2015Hull—AylmerChief Opposition Whip
Marjolaine Boutin-SweetNovember 12, 2015March 13, 2019 Hochelaga-
Ruth Ellen BrosseauMarch 14, 2019October 20, 2019Berthier—Maskinongé-
Rachel BlaneyNovember 26, 2019April 4, 2024North Island—Powell River-
Heather McPhersonApril 5, 2024April 28, 2025Edmonton Strathcona-

Party executive positions

Presidents