Founded 1961 | President Kathleen Connors Headquarters St. John's, NL Political position Centre-left | |
The Newfoundland and Labrador New Democratic Party (NL NDP) is a social democratic political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in 1961 as the successor to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and the Newfoundland Democratic Party. The party first contested the 1962 provincial election.
Contents
- Founding
- 19621984
- Peter Fenwick years
- Jack Harris years
- Lorraine Michael
- Earle McCurdy
- Party policies
- Electoral performance
- 48th General Assembly sitting members
- Historical representation
- Relationship with the federal party
- Leaders
- References
Lorraine Michael was elected leader of the NL NDP at the party's leadership election on May 28, 2006. She led the party during the 2007 and 2011 general elections, each time improving the party's share of vote from the previous election. In the 2011 election a record five NDP MHAs were elected under her leadership. Michael was succeeded by former Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union president, Earle McCurdy on March 7, 2015.
Founding
The NL NDP is the successor party to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). The Newfoundland CCF was founded in 1955 when Sam Drover, a member of the Newfoundland House of Assembly for White Bay (Trinity North) who left the provincial Liberal Party to sit as a member of the CCF. Drover became leader of the new provincial party, which fielded ten candidates, mostly in rural districts, in the 1956 provincial election. The CCF party failed to win any seats: Drover lost his own riding, winning 237 votes to the Liberal candidate's 1,437.
The CCF did not run candidates in the 1959 election, but supported the Newfoundland Democratic Party. This party had been organised by the Newfoundland Federation of Labour with the support of the Canadian Labour Congress, to protest the Liberal government's decertification of the International Woodworkers of America in the course of a logging strike. The Newfoundland Democratic Party ran eighteen candidates, none of whom was elected. The party was led by Ed Finn, Jr. and Calvin Normore. In 1961, the federal New Democratic Party was founded in with the merger of the federal CCF and the Canadian Labour Congress. The Newfoundland Democratic Party followed suit becoming the Newfoundland New Democratic Party with Finn leading the NL NDP into the 1962 provincial election and Normore doing so in 1966.
1962–1984
Since the 1962 general election, the party has run candidates in all of Newfoundland and Labrador's general elections. From 1962 to 1984 the party was led by seven different leaders and contested seven provincial elections. The party won an average of 3.3% of the vote in those elections and were unable to elect a candidate to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly.
Peter Fenwick years
Peter Fenwick succeeded Fonse Faour as party leader in 1981. In a 1984 by-election, Fenwick won the Labrador riding of Menihek becoming the first New Democrat to be elected in the province. In the 1985 general election the party won 14 per cent of the popular vote, nearly quadrupling their share of the vote they received three years earlier. Even with their successful results Fenwick was the only NL NDP candidate elected. In 1986, Gene Long won the party's second seat in a by-election in the riding of St. John's East (since renamed Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi). Also that year Fenwick was arrested, along with union representatives, for participating in a strike by the Newfoundland Association of Public Employees (NAPE). Fenwick retired from politics in 1989 and did not run in that year's election. Cle Newhook replaced Fenwick as party leader and the NL NDP was once again left without representation after the 1989 election when both ridings they had held were won by Progressive Conservatives.
Jack Harris years
St. John's lawyer and former Member of Parliament Jack Harris won back the riding of St. John's East in a 1990 by-election after Progressive Conservative MHA Shannie Duff resigned to run for Mayor. Harris took nearly 50% of the vote in the by-election beating the Liberal candidate by 740 votes. In 1992, Harris succeed Newhook as party leader and led the party into the 1993 general election. For the first and only time in the party's history they ran a full slate of candidates throughout the province, while they won almost 10,000 more votes than the previous election and increased their share of the popular vote from 3.4% to 7.4% Harris remained the only New Democrat elected. The 1996 general election resulted in a landslide majority government for the Liberal Party, the New Democrats received only 4.45% of the vote and nominated candidates in only 20 of the provinces 48 ridings. Though the party suffered their worst electoral result in 14 years Harris was easily re-elected in the new riding of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi.
Lorraine Michael
Lorraine Michael won the leadership of the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP in 2006. After succeeding Harris as leader she was elected in his former district of Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi several months later. In the 2007 provincial election Michael was the only New Democrat elected, though she increased her party's share of the popular vote. Between 2007 and 2011 polling for the NL NDP remained below 10 per cent in public opinion polls behind the Liberal Party and governing Progressive Conservatives. However, after the federal New Democrat's success in the 2011 federal election, where they formed the official opposition, support for Michael's New Democrats saw a surge in support. In a Corporate Research Associates (CRA) poll conducted just weeks after the federal election in May 2011, the NL NDP support rose to 20 per cent. For the first time in its history the party was statistically tied for second place with the Liberal Party, who were at 22 per cent. The New Democrats' gains came at the expense of the governing Progressive Conservatives who fell to 57 per cent. The NL NDP surpassed the Liberals in polling in September 2011, and won just under 25 per cent of the popular vote, and five seats, in the October 11, 2011, general election. The Progressive Conservatives won their third straight majority government and while the New Democrats placed second in the popular vote, they finished third behind the Liberal Party in seats.
On October 21, 2013, it was revealed that Michael had received a letter from her caucus over the previous weekend calling for a leadership election to be held in 2014. The caucus felt that without renewal in the party they would have trouble attracting quality candidates and public support in the 2015 election. In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Michael said she was shocked by the letter and felt betrayed by her caucus. Michael said she planned to sit down with her caucus before making a decision on what to do.
The letter led to a public fight within the NDP, particularly among the caucus. Both Gerry Rogers and George Murphy said they regretted sending the letter and supported Michael, while Dale Kirby and Chris Mitchelmore stood behind what they had written in the letter. Following the caucus meeting Michael agreed to having a vote on her leadership at the next annual general meeting of the party. Both Kirby and Mitchelmore later announced they were leaving the caucus to sit as Independent MHAs, and both men joined the Liberal Party in February 2014. The dispute over Michael's leadership also led to members of the provincial executive to resign. In May 2014 a party convention reaffirmed her leadership with the support of 75% of delegates. Michael announced on January 6, 2015, that she would step down as leader after the party performed poorly in four recent by-elections. While she was resigning as leader Michael also stated that she planned to seek re-election as an MHA. Her term as leader ended when her successor was chosen in a leadership election held on March 7, 2015.
Earle McCurdy
Three candidates sought to succeed Michael as leader: former Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union leader Earle McCurdy, former Labrador City town councillor Mike Goosney and former NDP official Chris Bruce
McCurdy won the election with 68 percent of the vote on March 7, 2015.
Party policies
The New Democratic Party in Newfoundland and Labrador has long been a party that has advocated social democratic policies that support working people and families and the labour movement. On September 20, 2007, the party released its policy platform for the 2007 general election. The platform's main points were:
Electoral performance
Results of elections for the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly:
48th General Assembly – sitting members
Historical representation
The New Democratic Party won its first seat in the House of Assembly in 1984 when leader Peter Fenwick was elected in a by-election for the district of Labrador West. The party has been represented in the provincial legislature continually since 1990. Former leader and St. John's East Member of Parliament Jack Harris was elected to represent the district in the 1990, 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2003 provincial elections. Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi has been represented in the House of Assembly by party leader Lorraine Michael since 2006.
Relationship with the federal party
The NL NDP is affiliated with the federal New Democratic Party. Two of the three New Democratic Party Members of Parliament ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons from Newfoundland and Labrador went on to lead the provincial party: