1961 New Democratic Party leadership election

1961 New Democratic Party leadership election

July 31 – August 4, 1961 1971 →

Candidate Tommy Douglas Hazen Argue Delegate count 1,391 380 Percentage 78.5% 21.5%

Elected Leader Tommy Douglas

The 1961 New Democratic Party founding convention was held in Ottawa from July 31 to August 4 to elect a leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) of Canada. This convention formally closed down the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) party, the New Party clubs, and merged them with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to form the NDP. It is also known for the divisive leadership vote in which Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas was elected over national CCF leader Hazen Argue. Over 2000 delegates attended the five-day convention held at the Ottawa Coliseum.^[1]