The 2017 New Democratic Party leadership election was won by Jagmeet Singh. The election was triggered by Tom Mulcair having lost a vote on leadership review at the party's federal convention held in Edmonton, Alberta, on April 10, 2016, which resulted in a majority of delegates voting in favor of holding a new leadership election. Mulcair declined to partake in the subsequent leadership election and stated that he would remain leader until the party chose a replacement.
Four candidates were on the leadership ballot: Charlie Angus, Niki Ashton, Guy Caron, and Jagmeet Singh. The voting process occurred on Sunday, October 1, 2017. Every party member was entitled to cast a secret vote using a preferential ranked ballot and exhaustive voting for the leadership election, allowing each member to choose one format or the other for their vote. Had no candidate received a majority during the first round of voting, subsequent rounds, occurring once a week, would have taken place until October 15, 2017, or until a candidate received a majority of votes.
Singh, the only non-MP in the race, formally announced his candidacy for the leadership on May 15, 2017. Singh received the support of 11 MPs, the most of any candidate, including former leadership candidates Nathan Cullen and Peter Julian, in addition to the support of major labour unions such as the United Food and Commercial Workers. Media attention surrounding his campaign noted the fact that, if elected, Singh would be the first visible minority person to lead a major federal party, as well as the first of the Sikh faith.
Singh was elected in the first round, with 53.8% of the votes, thus rendering the need for subsequent rounds of voting unnecessary. Following his election as Leader, Singh appointed former leadership rival Guy Caron to serve as the New Democratic Party's Parliamentary Leader.
Background
The result at the 2016 convention was the first time a leader of any Canadian federal political party has failed to receive at least 50% in a leadership review vote. In the months since the 2015 federal election, Mulcair's leadership had been a point of conflict within the party because of the election campaign, in which the NDP fell to third place from the Official Opposition status it gained in the 2011 election. The New Democrats had led public opinion polls since May 2015 and appeared to be poised to win their first federal election in history. However, they fell back behind the Liberals and Conservatives in the last month. The election thus resulted in a Liberal majority government.
The party lost more than half of its seats and fell to third place. Mulcair's leadership faced criticism following the election, particularly due to his moderate platform that the party was running on. In contrast, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau had promised to run a budget deficit to fund stimulus programs and higher social spending, a position which was perceived as the Liberals outflanking the NDP on the left.
Election rules
Under rules set out in the party's constitution, every member is entitled to cast a secret ballot for the selection of the Leader. The new leader was chosen on October 1, 2017, on the first round of voting through a preferential, ranked choice ballot that would have taken place once a week until a candidate hit the 50 per cent plus one mark to be declared leader had a leader not been chosen in the first round (with eligible voters choosing to vote with an internet ballot being allowed to change their vote at any time before the closure of the polls, including between each round of balloting).
Candidates were required to pay an entry fee of $30,000 and spend no more than $1.5 million. 25% of all donations to candidates were paid to the party. To be nominated, candidates required at least 500 signatures from party members, at least half of which must be from female-identified members and at least 100 from "other equity-seeking groups" including indigenous people, LGBT people, persons with disabilities and visible minorities. At least 50 signatures were required from each of five regions: the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and B.C., and the North.