The leader of the New Democratic Party (French: chef du Nouveau Parti démocratique) is the highest position within Canada's federal New Democratic Party (NDP). 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 (permanent) leader will be decided by the upcoming 2026 New Democratic Party leadership election.
| Leader of the New Democratic Party | |
|---|---|
| Chef du Nouveau Parti démocratique | |
Incumbent since May 5, 2025Don Davies (interim) | |
| Status | Party leader |
| Member of | New Democratic Party |
| Appointer | Elected by members of the party |
| Inaugural holder | J. S. Woodsworth (CCF) Tommy Douglas (NDP) |
| Formation | August 1, 1932 (CCF) August 3, 1961 (NDP) |
| Deputy | Deputy leader(s) of the New Democratic Party |
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
| No. | Portrait | Leader | Tenure | Riding(s) | Prime Minister(s) while leader | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | J. S. Woodsworth (1874–1942) | August 1, 1932 | March 21, 1942 | 9 years, 232 days | Winnipeg North Centre (1921–1925) Winnipeg Centre (1925–1942) | Bennett (1930–1935) Conservative | ||
| King (1935–1948) Liberal | ||||||||
| 2 | M. J. Coldwell (1888–1974) | July 29, 1942 | August 10, 1960 | 18 years, 12 days | Rosetown—Biggar (1935–1958) | |||
| St. Laurent (1948–1957) Liberal | ||||||||
| Diefenbaker (1957–1963) PC | ||||||||
| 3 | Hazen Argue (1921–1991) | August 11, 1960 | August 2, 1961 | 356 days | Wood Mountain (1945–1949) Assiniboia (1949–1963) | |||
| No. | Portrait | Leader | Tenure | Riding(s) | Prime Minister(s) while leader | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||
| 1 | Tommy Douglas (1904–1986) | August 3, 1961 | April 24, 1971 | 9 years, 264 days | Burnaby—Coquitlam (1962–1968) Nanaimo—Cowichan—The Islands (1969–1979) | Diefenbaker (1957–1963) PC | ||
| Pearson (1963–1968) Liberal | ||||||||
| P. Trudeau (1968–1979) Liberal | ||||||||
| 2 | David Lewis (1909–1981) | April 24, 1971 | July 7, 1975 | 4 years, 74 days | York South (1962–1963, 1965–1974) | |||
| 3 | Ed Broadbent (1936–2024) | July 7, 1975 | December 5, 1989 | 14 years, 151 days | Oshawa–Whitby (1968–1979) Oshawa (1979–1990) | |||
| Clark (1979–1980) PC | ||||||||
| P. Trudeau (1980–1984) Liberal | ||||||||
| Turner (1984) Liberal | ||||||||
| Mulroney (1984–1993) PC | ||||||||
| 4 | Audrey McLaughlin (b. 1936) | December 5, 1989 | October 14, 1995 | 5 years, 313 days | Yukon (1987–1997) | |||
| Campbell (1993) PC | ||||||||
| Chrétien (1993–2003) Liberal | ||||||||
| 5 | Alexa McDonough (1944–2022) | October 14, 1995 | January 25, 2003 | 7 years, 103 days | Halifax (1997–2008) | |||
| 6 | Jack Layton (1950–2011) | January 25, 2003 | August 22, 2011 | 8 years, 209 days | Toronto–Danforth (2004–2011) | |||
| Martin (2003–2006) Liberal | ||||||||
| Harper (2006–2015) Conservative | ||||||||
| — | Nycole Turmel (interim leader) (b. 1942) | August 22, 2011 | March 24, 2012 | 215 days | Hull—Aylmer (2011–2015) | |||
| 7 | Tom Mulcair (b. 1954) | March 24, 2012 | October 1, 2017 | 5 years, 191 days | Outremont (2007–2018) | |||
| J. Trudeau (2015–2025) Liberal | ||||||||
| 8 | Jagmeet Singh (b. 1979) | October 1, 2017 | May 5, 2025 | 7 years, 216 days | Burnaby South (2019–2025) | |||
| Carney (2025–present) Liberal | ||||||||
| — | Don Davies (interim leader) (b. 1963) | May 5, 2025 | incumbent | 276 days | Vancouver Kingsway (since 2008) | |||
- Only includes House of Commons seats held by the person while they were the party's leader
- On July 28, 2011, Layton took a leave of absence until his death, with Nycole Turmel serving as acting leader.
- Turmel had been serving as acting leader of the party since July 28, 2011.
- This number does not count Turmel's time in office as acting leader for Jack Layton. If this time was included, Turmel's term of office would be 240 days.
Related positions
Deputy leaders
| NDP deputy leader | Term start | Term end | Riding(s) | NDP leader | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Blaikie | August 1, 2004 | October 14, 2008 | Elmwood—Transcona | Jack Layton | |
| Tom Mulcair | September 27, 2007 | October 12, 2011 | Outremont | Jack Layton Nycole Turmel | |
| Libby Davies | September 27, 2007 | October 18, 2015 | Vancouver East | Jack Layton Nycole Turmel Tom Mulcair | |
| Megan Leslie | April 19, 2012 | October 18, 2015 | Halifax | Tom Mulcair | |
| David Christopherson | April 19, 2012 | March 11, 2019 | Hamilton Centre | Tom Mulcair Jagmeet Singh | |
| Sheri Benson | March 14, 2019 | October 20, 2019 | Saskatoon West | Jagmeet Singh | |
| Alexandre Boulerice | March 14, 2019 | incumbent | Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie | Jagmeet Singh Don Davies |
Federal caucus leadership positions
House Leaders
| NDP house leader | Term start | Term end | Riding(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley Knowles | September 1962 | September 3, 1984 | Winnipeg North Centre | |
| Ian Deans | September 4, 1984 | September 3, 1986 | Hamilton Mountain | Acting NDP house leader from 1981 to 1984 |
| Nelson Riis | September 5, 1986 | January 11, 1994 | Kamloops—Shuswap (1980–1988) Kamloops (1988–2000) | |
| Len Taylor | January 12, 1994 | January 10, 1996 | The Battlefords—Meadow Lake | |
| Bill Blaikie | January 11, 1996 | February 5, 2003 | Winnipeg—Transcona | |
| Libby Davies | February 6, 2003 | May 25, 2011 | Vancouver East | |
| Tom Mulcair | May 26, 2011 | October 12, 2011 | Outremont | Opposition House Leader |
| Joe Comartin | October 13, 2011 | April 14, 2012 | Windsor—Tecumseh | |
| Nathan Cullen | April 19, 2012 | March 19, 2014 | Skeena—Bulkley Valley | |
| Peter Julian (1 of 3) | March 20, 2014 | October 18, 2016 | Burnaby—New Westminster (2004–2015) New Westminster—Burnaby (2015–2025) | Opposition House Leader (March 20, 2014 to October 20, 2015) |
| Murray Rankin | October 19, 2016 | October 23, 2017 | Victoria | |
| Peter Julian (2 of 3) | October 24, 2017 | January 24, 2018 | New Westminster—Burnaby | |
| Ruth Ellen Brosseau | January 25, 2018 | March 13, 2019 | Berthier—Maskinongé | |
| Peter Julian (3 of 3) | March 14, 2019 | April 28, 2025 | New Westminster—Burnaby | |
| Alexandre Boulerice | May 28, 2025 | incumbent | Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie |
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 (1993–1997) Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre (1997–2000) | |
| Yvon Godin | February 1, 2000 | May 25, 2011 | Acadie—Bathurst | Chief Opposition Whip (May 2–25, 2011) |
| 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 |
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)
- 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)
- 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–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
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