OTTAWA — Jagmeet Singh said he was stepping down as NDP leader on Monday night after suffering a resounding defeat on election night, losing his own seat and seeing his party reduced to what would likely be a single-digit seat count.
When an emotional Singh took the stage to speak to a crowd of supporters in Burnaby, B.C. he was in third place in his riding with less than 20 per cent of the vote, trailing both the Conservative and Liberal candidate.
The NDP also looked likely to lose its party status on Monday after leading in only seven seats across the country by the time Singh took the stage at 9:30 p.m. local time.
“Obviously, I’m disappointed we could not win more seats. But I’m not disappointed in our movement. I’m hopeful for our party, I know we will always choose hope over fear and optimism over despair and unity over hate,” he said.
Among the smattering of NDP candidates who had secured victory on Monday night were Alexandre Boulerice in Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, Leah Gazan in Winnipeg Centre and Jenny Kwan in Vancouver East. As Singh spoke, longtime NDP MP Don Davies was locked in a battle in the Vancouver Kingsway riding with his Liberal opponent.
More than a dozen NDP incumbents are likely to lose their seats by the time all the votes have been counted.
More to come.
National Post
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