Ottawa, ON – late Monday night, the New Democratic Party named Don Davies, the Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway as the party’s interim leader until they can hold a leadership election for his permanent replacement.
This comes after the 2025 federal election, which saw Jagmeet Singh lose his bid for re-election in Burnaby Central and subsequently stepping down as party leader. With this announcement, the party stated that Singh’s resignation would be effective as soon as an interim leader was named.
On Monday, members of the NDP voted on the new interim leader, with Davies winning the vote as reported by media early in the evening. This news came not only as a surprise to onlookers on social media, but even to certain high-ranking members of the party. Leah Gazan took to Twitter to express disappointment that she found out that Davies was elected interim leader through the news rather than through an official party source.
What Role Will Don Davies Play in the Long-Term?
Davies was first elected to parliament with the NDP in Kingsway in 2008, flipping a riding which had been Liberal and Conservative since its recreation in 1997. With this tenure of 17 years and 5 full sessions of Parliament, Davies is the NDP MP who has been in office for the longest period of time, narrowly beating out Alexandre Boulerice.
Davies is expected to lead a transitional period for the NDP in trying times: they’ve lost official party status for only the second time in party history, and there appears to be increased tension between party members on how to slow the freefall they’ve experienced. Davies himself is not without his controversies, though, as he has been criticized by an increasingly pro-Palestine NDP electorate for working with pro-Israel interest groups.
Davies is expected to lead the NDP in Parliament until the party can hold a leadership election to replace him. Early rumoured candidates for the party’s next leader included Leah Gazan, Heather McPherson, and Charlie Angus.
