NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he will step down once the party selects a new leader, following his party’s significant seat losses in the April 28 election.
Singh also lost his own seat in the election.
“Tonight I’ve informed the party [president] that I’m stepping down as party leader as soon as an interim leader can be appointed,” Singh told supporters in an emotional speech in the early morning of April 29.
Singh also congratulated Prime Minister Mark Carney on his election victory and said he has an “important job to do, to represent all Canadians and to protect our country and its sovereignty from the threats of Donald Trump.”
Singh said he was disappointed that the NDP lost seats in the election but said he’s hopeful for the party.
“I know that we will always choose hope over fear and optimism over despair and unity over hate,” he said. “New Democrats built this country. We built the best of Canada, and we aren’t going anywhere.”
Related Stories
As of 1:30 a.m. EST on April 29, the NDP had won or was leading in seven ridings. This marks a significant drop compared to the 25 seats the party won in the 2021 election.
Also as of 1:30 a.m. EST on April 29, Singh was at 18 percent in the riding of Burnaby Central, compared to the Liberal candidate at 42 percent and the Conservative candidate at 39 percent.
Singh, a former Ontario NDP MPP, became the leader of the federal NDP in 2017, and a federal MP in 2019 for the former riding of Burnaby South in B.C.
Singh congratulated other party leaders and his rivals in the Burnaby Central riding for a “hard-fought” campaign, and thanked the people of the riding.
“Tonight, they chose a new member of Parliament, and I wish them well as they continue to work hard for this community,” he said.
As leader of the NDP, Singh formed a supply-and-confidence agreement with the minority Liberal government after the 2021 election. Under the agreement, the NDP supported the minority government on confidence votes, in exchange for the Liberals bringing in key legislation such as national dental care and pharmacare programs.
Singh had defended his decision to vote against Conservative-sponsored non-confidence motions to bring down the Liberal government last year after he ended the supply-and-confidence agreement in September, saying he didn’t want to see the Conservatives win a majority government.
“While we could have won lots of seats, it would have meant a Pierre Poilievre majority Conservative government, and I could not stomach that,” he told the Toronto Star last week.
Throughout 2024, the Conservatives held double-digit leads over the Liberals in the polls until their fortunes shifted after U.S. President Donald Trump started talk of tariffs and suggested Canada should become part of the United States, and after the Liberals selected Carney as their new leader.
Polls showed the NDP was projected to hold on to 15 seats late last year if an election was to be held then.
Singh said his decision to delay the election was made “for the interest of the country, ahead of my party.”
