NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh leaves the stage with his wife Gurkiran Kaur after announcing he would step down as party leader while addressing supporters on election night, in Burnaby, B.C., on April 28.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Senior New Democrats say they expect an interim leader to be appointed by the end of the week, after NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced his resignation on election night.
Mr. Singh, who has been leader since 2017, told supporters last Monday that he would be stepping down after leading the party into its worst election performance in its history. The NDP lost party status and Mr. Singh lost his own seat in Burnaby, B.C.
NDP national campaign director Jennifer Howard, who was also Mr. Singh’s chief of staff, and party spokesperson Anne McGrath, who was his principal secretary, said the federal council is supposed to meet this week to discuss interim leadership, though they said they were not sure what day it would be.
Both, however, said they expected an interim leader by the end of the week.
“I’m sure they will come to a decision when they meet,” Ms. Howard said in an interview.
The party’s constitution says that the federal council, in consultation with the parliamentary caucus, appoints the interim leader. Ms. McGrath said it would make sense to appoint someone who was already a sitting member of Parliament.
Ms. Howard added that the interim leader would have to be in place by the time the House of Commons resumes sitting.
Editorial Board: The decline of the NDP, and the rise of the centre
Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Friday that Parliament would resume on May 26, with King Charles III delivering the Speech from the Throne on May 27.
He also ruled out a formal agreement with the NDP in order to keep his government afloat. Mr. Singh struck a supply and confidence agreement with former prime minister Justin Trudeau in 2022 to keep the Liberals’ minority government in power.
Mr. Singh ripped up that agreement last September but the NDP did not vote against the government on subsequent confidence motions.
Mr. Singh said in January that the party would vote against the government on the next confidence motion, but Mr. Trudeau prorogued Parliament to allow for a Liberal leadership race and it didn’t sit before the election.
Mr. Singh used an emotional speech on election night to announce that he would resign after an interim leader is chosen.
The party only managed to retain seven of its seats, which leaves it without “recognized” party status in the House of Commons. That status, which requires 12 seats, comes with more questions during Question Period, seats on parliamentary committees and funding for staff and research purposes.
Ms. Howard said one of the first jobs of the interim leader would be figuring out a path to regaining that status. The New Democrats have called the 12-member threshold arbitrary and want the rules changed so they are included.
Ms. McGrath said she also hopes that the details of the leadership race will be sorted out at the coming federal council meeting, including fees and eligibility requirement
The party is also expected to conduct a post-mortem review of the election campaign.
Ms. Howard said she takes responsibility for the New Democrats’ election result.
She argued that plenty of aspects went right in the campaign, but she conceded that her party was just not the answer to the questions Canadians were asking about dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been using tariffs to wage trade wars against Canada and other countries.
Ms. Howard said the NDP was seen as credible on issues such as health care, housing and cost of living, but she added: “We’re not as credible on things like international trade. We’re not as credible on things like the economy, and we have to work hard to gain the credibility and trust on those issues.”