Yukon New Democratic Party Explained

Yukon New Democratic Party
Nouveau Parti démocratique du Yukon
Subheader:Active territorial party
Leader:Kate White
President:Jan Stick
Headquarters:Whitehorse, Yukon
Ideology:Social democracy
Position:Centre-left
National:New Democratic Party
Colours:Orange
Blank1 Title:Fiscal policy
Blank2 Title:Social policy
Seats1 Title:Seats in the House of Commons
Seats2 Title:Seats in the Senate
Seats3 Title:Seats in Legislature
Country:Canada
State:Yukon
Parties Dab1:List of political parties in Yukon
Elections Dab1:List of Yukon general elections

The Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP; French: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Yukon) is a social democratic political party in the Yukon territory of Canada.

The Yukon NDP first formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony Penikett from 1985 to 1992, and under the leadership of Piers McDonald from 1996 to 2000. The party's current leader is Kate White. The NDP sat as official opposition to the current Yukon Party government in the Yukon Legislative Assembly until May 2006. In the 2006 Yukon election later that year, the three incumbent New Democrat Members of the Legislative Assembly were reelected, but the party failed to win any additional seats and remained in third place behind the five members of the Yukon Liberal Party and the ten member Yukon Party majority government.

In January 2009, the NDP were reduced to two seats: Todd Hardy (Whitehorse Centre) and Steve Cardiff (Mount Lorne), after the Party's third member, John Edzerza, resigned to sit as an independent. Edzerza later rejoined the Yukon Party, for which he had originally been elected in the 2002 Yukon election.

Hardy died in July 2010, reducing the NDP to a single seat. On November 12, a by-election was called for his riding of Whitehorse Centre on December 13, which was won by the Party leader Hanson. Cardiff was killed in a car crash on July 7, 2011, again reducing the party to one seat in the legislature entering the 2011 election.

In the 2011 election, the Yukon NDP under Elizabeth Hanson elected six MLAs to form the territory's Official Opposition. The NDP was the only party to see an increase in its share of the popular vote over the 2006 Yukon election. In the 2016 election, the NDP was reduced to two seats and third party status.

In May 2019, Kate White the incumbent MLA for Takhini-Kopper King was acclaimed as the new party leader, replacing Hanson.[1] In the 2021 election, the Yukon NDP under White won three seats. On April 23, the incumbent Liberals were sworn in with a minority government.[2] On April 28, the NDP announced that they had entered into a formal confidence and supply agreement with the Liberals.[3]

The Yukon NDP is a territorial section of the federal New Democratic Party.

Leaders of the Yukon NDP

The following is a list of the Yukon NDP leaders since Yukon introduced political parties provincially in 1978.

LeaderYears in Office
1 1978-1981
2 1981-1995
3 1995-2000
4 2000-2001
5 2001-2002
6 2002-2009
7 2009–2019
8 2019–present

Election results

ElectionLeaderVotes%Seats+/–PositionGovernment
1978Fred Berger1,56820.3 1 3rd
1982Tony Penikett3,68935.4 5 2nd
19854,33541.1 2 1st
19895,27544.9 1 1st
19924,57135.1 3 2nd
1996Piers McDonald5,77439.9 5 1st
20004,67732.8 5 2nd
2002Todd Hardy3,76326.9 1 2nd
20063,19723.6 2 3rd
2011Elizabeth Hanson5,15432.6 3 2nd
20164,92826.2 4 3rd
2021Kate White5,35628.2 1 3rd
with NDP confidence and supply

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Thomson. Nancy. May 6, 2019. New Yukon NDP leader wants to 'smash expectations and stereotypes'. April 6, 2021. CBC News.
  2. Web site: April 23, 2021. Yukon Liberals set to be sworn-in as party aims to form minority government. April 26, 2021. CTVNews. en.
  3. Web site: Yukon Liberals, reduced to minority, embrace the NDP . CBC . 5 November 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210924115125/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-liberal-ndp-announcement-government-1.6006387 . 24 September 2021 . 28 April 2021.