New Democratic Party leadership conventions

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NDP 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 convention of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and its successor, the New Democratic Party, was a leadership convention.

However, in practice, contested elections were held only when there was a declared leadership race. In 2001, a rare exception to this occurred when Socialist Caucus member Marcel Hatch challenged Alexa McDonough from the floor of the convention; however, McDonough easily retained the leadership in the resulting vote. It also seems that in 1973 Douglas Campbell unsuccessfully challenged David Lewis' leadership.

CCF leaders J.S. Woodsworth in 1933, M.J. Coldwell in 1942 and Hazen Argue in 1960 were all elected by acclamation.

In 1961, the CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress joined to form the New Democratic Party . Trade unions were allowed to directly affiliate to the party, and a system was 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. This was also the case at leadership conventions, giving the labour movement a significant say in determining the party's leadership.

Contents

[edit] 1961 leadership convention results

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on August 3, 1961.

First Ballot

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.

First Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
David Lewis 661 38.9%
James Laxer 378 22.3%
John Paul Harney 299 17.6%
Ed Broadbent 236 13.9%
Frank Howard 124 7.3%
Total 1,698 100%

Second Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
David Lewis 715 42.5%
James Laxer 407 24.1%
John Paul Harney 347 20.5%
Ed Broadbent 223 13.1%
Total 1,692 100%

Third Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
David Lewis 742 44.1%
James Laxer 508 30.2%
John Paul Harney 431 25.6%
Total 1,681 100%

Fourth Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
David Lewis 1046 63.1%
James Laxer 612 36.9%
Total 1,658 100%

[edit] 1975 leadership convention results

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 7, 1975.

First Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ed Broadbent 536 33.1%
Rosemary Brown 413 23.5%
Lorne Nystrom 345 21.3%
John Paul Harney 313 19.4%
Douglas Campbell 11 0.6%
Total 1,618 100%

Second Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ed Broadbent 586 36.1%
Rosemary Brown 397 24.5%
Lorne Nystrom 342 21.1%
John Paul Harney 299 18.4%
Total 1,624 100%

Third Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ed Broadbent 694 43.4%
Rosemary Brown 494 30.9%
Lorne Nystrom 413 25.8%
Total 1,601 100%

Fourth Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ed Broadbent 984 61.5%
Rosemary Brown 658 41.1%
Total 1,601 100%

[edit] 1989 leadership convention results

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on December 2, 1989.

First Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Audrey McLaughlin 646 26.9%
Dave Barrett 566 23.6%
Steven Langdon 351 14.6%
Simon De Jong 315 13.1%
Howard McCurdy 256 10.7%
Ian Waddell 213 8.9%
Roger Lagasse 53 2.2%
Total 2,400 100%

Second Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Audrey McLaughlin 829 34.3%
Dave Barrett 780 32.3%
Steven Langdon 519 21.5%
Simon De Jong 289 12.0%
Total 2,417 100%

Third Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Audrey McLaughlin 1072 44.4%
Dave Barrett 947 39.3%
Steven Langdon 393 16.3%
Total 2,412 100%

Fourth Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Audrey McLaughlin 1,316 55.1%
Dave Barrett 1,072 44.9%
Total 2,388 100%

[edit] 1995 leadership convention results

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on October 14, 1995.

First Ballot

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.

Prior to this leadership contest, the NDP held a series of regional and labour "caucus votes" prior to the national convention. A fourth candidate, Herschel Hardin, also 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

[1]


First Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Alexa McDonough 645 82.2%
Marcel Hatch 120 15.3%
Total 785 100%

[edit] 2003 leadership election results

Held in Toronto, Ontario on January 25, 2003.

First Ballot

Candidate Delegate Support 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%

Starting with the 2003 leadership 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%.

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ "McDonough fends off leadership challenge", Online Edition, The Globe and Mail Newspaper, 2001-11-25. Retrieved on 2007-05-11. (English)