page_title: New Democratic Party
section_title: Rise under Jack Layton
hierarchical_section_title: New Democratic Party / History / Into the 21st century / Rise under Jack Layton
caption_attribution_description: English: Jack Layton during the 2011 Canadian federal election
context_page_description: The New Democratic Party is a social democratic federal political party in Canada. The party was founded in 1961 out of the merger of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation with the Canadian Labour Congress. On the Canadian political spectrum, the party sits to the left of the Liberal Party. The federal and provincial level NDPs are more integrated than other political parties in Canada, and have shared membership.
  The NDP has never won the largest share of seats at the federal level. From 2011 to 2015 it formed the Official Opposition, but it is typically the third or fourth-largest party in the House of Commons. However, the party has held influence during periods of minority governments. Provincial parties have formed the government in six provinces and one territory.
  Since 2017, the NDP has been led by Jagmeet Singh, who is the first Indo-Canadian to lead a major federal party in Canada. Following the 2019 Canadian federal election, it is currently the fourth-largest party in the House of Commons with 24 seats.
context_section_description: McDonough announced her resignation as party leader for family reasons in June 2002 (effective upon her successor's election), and was succeeded by Jack Layton in January 2003. A Toronto city councillor and recent President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, Layton was elected at the party's leadership election in Toronto on January 25, 2003, defeating his nearest rival, longtime Winnipeg-area MP Bill Blaikie, on the first ballot with 53.5% of the vote.
  Layton had run unsuccessfully for the Commons three times in Toronto-area ridings. Like McDonough before him, Layton did not contest a seat in Parliament until the 2004 election. In the interim, he appointed Blaikie as deputy leader and made him parliamentary leader of the NDP.
caption: Jack Layton was the first leader of the NDP to become Leader of the Official Opposition.
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