Leader of the New Democratic Party

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 Don Davies (interim) since May 5, 2025
Status	Party leader
Member of	New Democratic Party
Appointer	Elected by members of the party
Precursor	Leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Inaugural holder	Tommy Douglas[a]
Formation	August 3, 1961

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.^[1] 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 continously 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.^[2] 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.

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 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 (1878–1974)	July 29, 1942	August 10, 1960	18 years, 12 days	Rosetown—Biggar
								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)

New Democratic Party (1961–present)

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	Weyburn (SK: 1944–1961)[n 1] 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
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
								Campbell (1993) PC
								Chrétien (1993–2003) Liberal
5		Alexa McDonough (1944–2022)	October 14, 1995	January 25, 2003	7 years, 103 days	Halifax Fairview (NS: 1993–1996)[n 1] Halifax (1997–2008)
6		Jack Layton (1950–2011)	January 25, 2003	August 22, 2011[n 2]	8 years, 209 days	Toronto–Danforth
								Martin (2003–2006) Liberal
								Harper (2006–2015) Conservative
—		Nycole Turmel (interim leader) (b. 1942)	August 22, 2011[n 3]	March 24, 2012	215 days	Hull—Aylmer
7		Tom Mulcair (b. 1954)	March 24, 2012	October 1, 2017	5 years, 191 days	Outremont
								J. Trudeau (2015–2025) Liberal
8		Jagmeet Singh (b. 1979)	October 1, 2017	May 5, 2025	7 years, 216 days	Bramalea—Gore—Malton (ON: 2011–2017)[n 1] Burnaby South (2019–2025)
								Carney (2025–present) Liberal
—		Don Davies (interim leader) (b. 1963)	May 5, 2025	incumbent	98 days	Vancouver Kingsway

1. Held a seat in a provincial legislature while serving as the federal NDP leader.
2. On July 28, 2011, Layton took a leave of absence until his death, with Nycole Turmel serving as acting leader.^[3]
3. Turmel had been serving as acting leader of the party since July 28, 2011.^[4]

Related positions

Deputy leaders

Further information: Deputy leader

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

Further information: House Leader

NDP house leader[5]	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

Party whips

See also: Party whip (Canada)

NDP party whips[6]	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)^[7]
• 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)^[8]
• Adam Giambrone (2001–2006)^[9]
• Anne McGrath (2006–2009)^[10]
• Peggy Nash (2009–2011)^[11]
• Brian Topp (2011)^[12]
• Rebecca Blaikie (2011–2016)^[13]
• 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

Notes

1. Tommy Douglas was the first leader of the New Democratic Party established in 1961 following the merger of the CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress. The first leader of the CCF was J. S. Woodsworth.