OTTAWA – The federal NDP officially launched the race to find its next leader on Tuesday, leaving seven months for interested candidates to mount a campaign.
The next NDP leader will be elected at a national convention in Winnipeg in March.
In a news release, the party says there has been strong interest in the leadership contest since Aug. 20, when the application packages were made available.
Former leader Jagmeet Singh resigned after he and the party suffered a stunning defeat in April’s federal election. The NDP was reduced to seven seats and lost official party status.
Registered party members will vote on Singh’s permanent successor using a ranked ballot, which allows delegates to list candidates in their preferred order.
Anyone running for the leadership must obtain at least 10 per cent of the required number of signatures from New Democrats aged 25 years or younger.
Candidates must also collect at least 50 signatures from each of five regions — the Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, and B.C. and the North.
No candidate has officially entered the race, and the eventual winner will likely face an uphill battle to get the party back into contention.
A Research Co. poll suggested in July that most Canadians are unfamiliar with nine potential NDP leadership candidates.
Poll respondents were asked about possible NDP leadership candidates, including current MPs Leah Gazan, Gord Johns, Jenny Kwan and Heather McPherson, former House leader Ruth Ellen Brosseau, former Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart and filmmaker Avi Lewis.
The poll also asked about former MP Nathan Cullen and Tony McQuail, an Ontario farmer who has said he plans to enter the leadership race.
With files from David Baxter
