Ontario CCF/NDP leadership elections

The Ontario New Democratic Party elects its leaders by secret ballot of the party members and/or their delegates at leadership elections, as did its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section). The party leader can be challenged for the leadership at the party's biennial convention. The Ontario New Democratic Party is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada.

From 1934 until 1942, the president of the Ontario CCF acted as the party's spokesperson and leader during election campaigns. John Mitchell, a Hamilton alderman, was CCF president from 1934 until 1941. Samuel Lawrence, former Ontario CCF MPP for Hamilton East was elected party president in 1941 and recommended that the party elect a leader in 1942.^[1][2]

Ontario CCF leadership convention, 1942

(Held on April 3, 1942 at the Hotel Carls-Rite in Toronto)^[1]

• Ted Jolliffe
• Murray Cotterill

Fifteen other individuals were nominated but declined to stand including Ontario CCF President and former Hamilton East MPP Samuel Lawrence; Allan Schroeder of St. Catharines; York West Member of Parliament Joseph W. Noseworthy; Canadian United Steelworkers of America executive director Charles Millard, lawyer Andrew Brewin; former Member of Parliament Agnes MacPhail; Toronto alderman William Dennison, CCF National Secretary David Lewis; University of Toronto professor and Toronto school trustee George Grube; teacher Everett Orlan Hall of London, Ontario; Alderman and former party president John Mitchell of Hamilton; B.E. Leavens of Toronto; Lou Isaacs; William Grant of Peterborough, and Margaret Sedgewick of Toronto.^[1][2]

(Note: The vote totals were not announced. 150 delegates participated in total.^[1])

Ontario CCF leadership challenge, 1946

(Held November 23, 1946)

• Ted Jolliffe
• Lewis Duncan

Ontario CCF leadership convention, 1953

(Held at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall on College Street, in Toronto, on November 21, 1953.)^[3]

First Ballot

Second Ballot

Former MPPs Agnes Macphail, Eamon Park, Charles Millard, and William Dennison were nominated as was sitting MPP and CCF house leader Bill Grummett but all declined.^[4]

(Note: These totals are taken from an interview with Donald C. MacDonald several years after the convention. They do not appear to have been announced at the convention itself.)

Ontario NDP leadership convention, 1961

(Held on October 8, 1961 at the Sheraton-Brock Hotel in Niagara Falls, Ontario)^[5]

• MACDONALD, Donald C. acclaimed

Ontario NDP leadership challenge, 1968

(Held on November 17, 1968 at Bingeman Park in Kitchener, Ontario.)^[6]

Ontario NDP leadership convention, 1970

(Held at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on October 4, 1970.)^[7]

Ontario NDP leadership challenge, 1972

(Held on December 10, 1972 at the Four Seasons Sheraton Hotel in Toronto, Ontario.)^[8]

An additional 137 ballots were spoiled. If the spoiled votes are factored in then Lewis received 74.2% support overall

Ontario NDP leadership convention, 1978

(Held on February 5, 1978 at the Sheraton Centre in Toronto.)^[9]

First Ballot

Breaugh eliminated, goes to Cassidy

Second Ballot

Ontario NDP leadership convention, 1982

(Held at the Harbour Castle Convention Centre in Toronto on February 7, 1982.)^[10]

Ontario NDP leadership challenge, 1986

(Held on June 22, 1986 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.)

Ontario NDP leadership convention, 1996

(Held on June 22, 1996 at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario.)

After the first ballot, Silipo was eliminated and he endorsed Hampton. After the 2nd ballot, Kormos was eliminated but he endorsed no one and released his delegates. There were eighty spoiled ballots on the final count, mostly from disgruntled supporters of Kormos.

Ballot results

Ontario NDP leadership election, 2009

(Held on March 7, 2009, at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario)

First Ballot

Prue eliminated, endorses Bisson

Second Ballot

Bisson eliminated, endorses Horwath

Third Ballot

Starting with the 2009 leadership election, the Ontario NDP instituted a modified one member one vote system in which the vote is calculated so that ballots cast by labour delegates have 25% weight in the total result, while votes cast by party members have a weight of 75% in the overall result.

References