Canada: Jagmeet Singh’s NDP crashes to 7 seats
While interim leader Don Davies has sought the status in discussions with the ruling Liberal Party, the government’s leader in the House Steven MacKinnon appeared to rule that out, on Friday
Toronto: After its disastrous performance in the Federal election under former leader Jagmeet Singh, the New Democratic Party (NDP) is unlikely to obtain official status in the House of Commons.
The minimum number of seats required to get official party status in the 343-member House is 12. However, under Singh’s leadership the party’s strength after the April 28 elections plummeted to just seven, down from 25 in 2021.
While interim leader Don Davies has sought the status in discussions with the ruling Liberal Party, the government’s leader in the House Steven MacKinnon appeared to rule that out, on Friday. He told the outlet CBC News that retention of official party status by the NDP “is probably not something that’s on the table.”
That remark came as the final results of the 2025 Federal poll were declared, on Friday, leaving the ruling party with 169 seats, three short of the majority mark, and the opposition Conservatives at 144.
Both judicially certified results posted by Elections Canada on Friday were positive for the opposition party as it flipped one seat and retained another.
Conservative Jonathan Rowe was declared the winner from the riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas in Newfoundland after a judicial recount. He defeated his Liberal rival Anthony Germain by 12 votes, after the initial result showed him trailing by the exact same margin.
While the opposition party gained that seat, it also retained Windsor–Tecumseh–Lake Shore, where its candidate Kathy Borrelli emerged ahead by just four votes.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney will enter the new House as it sits for the first time on Monday leading a minority Government. But, he has already made it clear he is not looking for an arrangement with the NDP as his predecessor Justin Trudeau agreed to with Singh in March 2022.
The NDP’s disastrous election night could, in part, be attributed to Singh’s decision to enter into a supply and confidence agreement with Trudeau’s minority Government.
While Trudeau exited in January, Singh couldn’t shake off the association of having kept that unpopular Government in power so long.
That may have also contributed to Singh facing personal humiliation at the hustings on April 28, as he came third in the riding of Burnaby Central in British Columbia, behind the winner, Liberal Party’s Wade Chang and the Conservative James Yan.
He announced his intent to resign once the interim leader was selected late that night. Davies assumed charge at the party’s interim leader on March 5, bringing Singh’s tenure of over seven years to an end.
