As an NDP supporter, I’m at a crossroads. In the recent federal election, prioritizing harm reduction, I voted for the Liberal candidate in my riding. This proved to make sense, as she came relatively close to pulling off a victory, while the local NDP candidate received under 3% of the vote. In normal times, I would vote for the New Democrats. But we are not in normal times, as many other longtime NDP voters have exhibited with their voting patterns in the recent election.
So, who could win back voters for the party? There are several candidates who have expressed interest (or at least who have not explicitly said *no*), but not every candidate is equal. Some have an abundance of experience in federal politics, others not so much, and others are in a grey area as they’ve just lost their seats in Parliament. With that said, here is a brief overview of prospective candidates for the next NDP leadership election.
Rumoured NDP Leadership Candidates who Will Not Run
Though a change of heart is not beneath politicians, quite a few high-ranking NDP members have ruled out running for party leader. To start, Don Davies, the party’s current interim leader, has ruled out running for party leadership, as has Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie MP and NDP deputy leader Alexandre Boulerice. The last sitting MP who has explicitly state she will not run is Lori Idlout, MP for Nunavut.
Other rumoured names who have stated they will not run include Charlie Angus, who vowed to continue to fight from the sidelines, Toronto mayor Olivia Chow, and NDP premiers David Eby, Wab Kinew, and Rachel Notley. I think any of these premiers would make for great NDP leadership, but history hasn’t been kind to politicians who’ve tried to bridge the provincial-federal gap.
Grading Prospective NDP Leadership Candidates
With those names out of the way, there are quite a few names who have shown interest in leading the New Democratic Party, or who have at least not explicitly said that they are not interested. These candidates range from puzzling to great and to outright bad, so in this article, I’ll give each of them a grade based on policy, electability, and other factors and briefly explain why.
Daniel Blaikie
Blaikie was the MP for Elmwood-Transcona until 2024 when he stepped down to work with Manitoba’s NDP government. He’s also the son of the late NDP legend Bill Blaikie. For these reasons, should Blaikie pursue NDP leadership, he has both the experience and name recognition necessary to give him qualification.
Blaikie is a champion of labour, and has a plethora of experience both in Parliament and with relevant NGOs. Additionally, I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that he has an advantage with key NDP-CPC voters being a young white man from Manitoba. There isn’t yet a clear indication that Blaikie actually will run, but he would be towards the top of my ballot if he did.
Grade: A-
Ruth Ellen Brosseau
Brosseau was the MP for Berthier—Maskinongé from 2011 to 2019, though choosing her would be puzzling to say the least. For one, Brosseau has contested and lost the riding in three straight elections, now falling to a distant third place in 2025. Electing a non-sitting MP already complicates things for the party in Parliament.
Brosseau has a charm to her that may appeal to some as someone who almost lucked into a seat and wasn’t really into politics, but she seems 7 years too late and a choice lacking the x-factor.
Grade: D+
Leah Gazan
When it comes to NDP leadership candidates, there is perhaps none as intriguing as Leah Gazan, the MP for Winnipeg Centre. She neither feels too young or too old for the job, she’s diverse (of Lakota, Chinese, and Jewish descent), and she has a history of getting prominent bills passed, such as the unanimous motion to declare the disappearances of Indigenous women a national emergency.
Gazan is a staunch progressive, economic leftist, and can fire up the party’s original prairie base as a Manitoba MP. Save the possibility that she’s perceived as too radical and the problems she has with the direction of the party, and Gazan would be a phenomenal party leader.
Grade: A–
Matthew Green
I would feel conflicted if the NDP leadership race resulted in Matthew Green as party leader. On one hand, Green is young, energetic, and would fire up those who typically turn out for the NDP. On the other hand, Green lost his seat in Hamilton Centre in the recent federal election, and would likely have to lead from out of Parliament. Adding to this that he may be unable to win the votes from rural swing voters, his leadership would be an interesting direction for the party.
Green may be able to win back the lost Vancouver and GTA seats for the party, and may appeal to the inner-city working class, but he may unfortunately lack the universal appeal that a leader like Jack Layton had in order to bring the NDP to a full rebound.
Grade: B-
Jenny Kwan
In my opinion, Kwan, the MP for Vancouver East, is probably not the right choice for NDP leadership. There was some talk about her becoming interim leader, and I feel that would have been the better path to go down. Kwan is a seasoned politician who is one of the longest-tenured party members in the running if we count provincial politics, but I don’t believe that she has the charisma or relatability needed for this role that the top candidates have.
Grade: C+
Heather McPherson
McPherson has the strongest case for NDP leadership – and it isn’t particularly close. She’s progressive, has a strong education, has relevant experience outside of politics, she isn’t a lifelong politician, and she’s not afraid to criticize and differentiate herself from the Liberal Party, a trap that Singh fell into too often.
These reasons are all why McPherson has remained the strongest NDP name on ballots across the country, always winning Edmonton Strathcona by a safe margin. McPherson has strong progressive values and captures an energy that few in party history have been able to. In addition to this, McPherson being from Edmonton likely means that her NDP leadership term could see prairie seats like Edmonton Griesbach and Churchill-Keewatinook Aski flip back for the NDP.
Grade: A+++ (i could add a few more pluses)
Valérie Plante
Plante is the mayor of Montreal and has never been involved in federal politics, so she may have the strangest case for NDP leadership. Still, though, as she has been asked about it and hasn’t ruled it out, I’ll talk about her prospective candidacy.
Plante has a wildcard aspect to her that may play out in the party’s benefit should she run in the NDP leadership election – she’s a progressive and staunch environmentalist, but there’s a more important aspect at play: as the very popular mayor of Montreal, she may be able to fire up the NDP’s lost Quebec base. The prospect of winning back seats like Hochelaga and Outremont is certainly intriguing and should be thought about before ruling Plante out for NDP leadership.
I still think that it’s unlikely that Plante will even run, but she has a few things going for her, should she decide to.
Grade: B
Conclusion
There are so many intriguing candidates for NDP leadership, which is why I strongly hope that the party doesn’t do as they’ve indicated and make the leadership election a highly exclusive and rushed endeavor. Between Blaikie, Green, Plante, and even some other names I didn’t mention like Niki Ashton, the party would be doing a disservice to its supporters if it only looked to current sitting MPs to become next party leader.
We don’t know exactly when the NDP will pick its next leader, but as supporters of the party, we can only hope that this leader is able to capture the magic of Tommy Douglas, Ed Broadbent, and Jack Layton.
