Jeremy Akerman

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Jeremy Bernard Akerman (b. 1942, Alvechurch, United Kingdom) is a former Canadian politian, writer and actor and a former leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NSNDP).

Akerman was attracted to politics at an early age, being drawn to the British Labour Party. However, his education was anything but that conventionally received by a politician, attending Cardiff College of Art where he studied to become a draftsman. After graduation in 1964 Akerman was invited by the Canadian government to come and work as an archaeologist on the Fortress Louisbourg Restoration Project, at Louisbourg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. It is here where his political life would be born.

During the Canadian Federal Election of 1965 Akerman, along with other workers from the Louisbourg site, went to volunteer on the campaign of Ed Johnston, who was the NDP Candidate for the federal riding of Cape Breton South. It is at this point that he met Paul MacEwan, a local school teacher and activist, who would become one of his closest colleagues and confidants.

In the provincial election of May 30, 1967, Akerman ran for the first time as an NDP candidate, in the constituency of Cape Breton West, and secured 13 per cent of the vote. In the following year, he ran as party candidate in the federal election, in Cape Breton East Richmond, and obtained 7,750 votes. This represented third place, but in the Town of Glace Bay, Akerman won three wards out of six, and Glace Bay being a provincial constituency, he decided to run there in the next provincial election.

Later in 1968, the NDP held a convention at Sydney, at which Akerman sought the party's provincial leadership. He was opposed by law professor Keith Jobson of Halifax, and won the election by four votes. He continued to serve as leader until 1980 ; when he retired, he was the longest-serving NDP leader anywhere in Canada.

The next provincial election was held October 13, 1970. Akerman was elected in Glace Bay with a majority of 1,527 votes. The party elected both Akerman and Sydney school teacher Paul MacEwan, so as to hold two seats in the Legislature until 1974. In the vote held April 2, 1974, Akerman and MacEwan were both re-elected, along with a third candidate, James "Buddy" McEachern, who ran in Cape Breton Centre, a riding sandwiched between Akerman's seat and MacEwan's. And in the following provincial election, held September 19, 1978, these three were all re-elected, as well as Len Arsenault in the constituency of Cape Breton North, thus bringing the NDP presence in the Nova Scotia Legislature up to 4 seats.

During his years as head of the NDP in Nova Scotia, Akerman had met increased resistance to his efforts from the Halifax branch of the party, which felt thst it should control party operations in the province. Through gaining a majority of seats on the party's provincial executive, the Halifax group came to dominate the party, even although they were unable to elect anyone to the Legislature. Akerman also faced strains on his health, due to the stress of the workload he carried, and missed the 1977 session of the House because of an illness. By 1980, he felt he had done everything he could, and announced he would not stand for a further term as party leader.

Soon afterwards, Akerman received a contract from the provincial government to become Executive Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. He worked in this position or other provincial government posts for the next eleven years. Following this, he served for a time as editor of the Metro Telecaster, then pursued a career in acting. He has appeared in 24 movies to the time of this posting.

During his time as NDP leader in Nova Scotia, Akerman earned a high level of respect from all political parties. He was considered one of the ablest debaters in the House, and demonstrated a wide range of knowledge as well as keen analytical skills.

Preceded by James H. Aitchison	Leader of the New Democratic Party of Nova Scotia 1968-1980	Succeeded by James MacEachern
Preceded by Layton Fergusson, PC	Member of the Legislature for Cape Breton East 1970-1980	Succeeded by Donnie MacLeod, PC