Nova Scotia New Democratic Party
# Party Leader Tenure Notes
1 James H. Aitchison 1963-1968
2 Jeremy Akerman 1968-1980
James 'Buddy ' McEachern 1980 interim leader
3 Alexa McDonough 1980-1994
John Holm 1994-1996 interim leader
4 Robert Chisholm 1996-2000 Leader of the Opposition , 1998-1999
5 Helen MacDonald 2000-2001
6 Darrell Dexter 2001-2013 Leader of the Opposition , 2001-2009 First NDP Premier , 2009-2013
Maureen MacDonald 2013-2016 interim leader
7 Gary Burrill 2016-present
Party leaders -- NDP
The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a progressive, social-democratic provincial party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial entity of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932, and became the New Democratic Party in 1961. It became the governing party of Nova Scotia following the 2009 Nova Scotia election, winning 31 seats in the Legislature, under the leadership of Premier Darrell Dexter. It is the first New Democratic Party in Atlantic Canada to form a government. The party lost government at the 2013 election, losing 24 seats, including Dexter's seat. The current leader, Halifax Chebucto MLA Gary Burrill, is credited with bringing the party back to its left-wing roots, after the centrist policies of Dexter. The party currently holds 4 seats in the Legislature, and had its lowest showing in the popular vote since 1993 during the 2017 Nova Scotia general election.