NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has won the House of Commons seat for Burnaby South in one of three byelections across the country on Monday, in the biggest test of his leadership of the NDP thus far.
With 180 of 196 polls counted Elections Canada reported Singh winning with 38.5 percent of the vote, followed by Liberal candidate Richard T. Lee at 25.8 percent. Conservative Jay Shin placed third with 22.9 percent.
The race was seen as a make-or-break contest for Singh, who would have faced pressure to step down as the party leader ahead of the upcoming federal election.
The win will give Singh, who has been largely absent from the Ottawa political scene since he won the leadership race almost 18 months ago, some much-needed visibility in Canada’s parliament.
The 40-year-old former MPP for the Ontario NDP has faced repeated criticism over a seeming lack of familiarity with Canada’s foreign policy, low poll numbers, and a leadership track record under which 11 of the 44 New Democrat MPs who won seats in 2015 say they won’t be running again in 2019.
The rookie leader, who has been seen as an energising force in Canadian politics, will have a place in the House of Commons, allowing him to spar with other leaders and the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, ahead of the election.
The victory was critical for the party leader: amid sagging poll numbers nationally and fundraising difficulties for the party, senior members had cast doubts over his future leadership had he not secured the win.
“Jagmeet Singh has always been underestimated,” his brother Gurratan Singh tweeted as results were reported. “And he always proves them wrong.”