The True North — New Democratic Party of Canada leadership election, 1989

[MAINEiac4434]

Ed Broadbent, the single most successful federal NDP leader.

Welcome to The True North – Where Atlas decides what happens to Canada. We start in 1989. The left-wing New Democratic Party, on 43 seats, has seen longtime leader Ed Broadbent retire. Who will replace him?

Audrey McLaughlin – the Yukoner is aiming to become the first female leader of a federal political party. The ideological heir to Ed Broadbent, she is hoping to expand the party beyond western Canada.

Dave Barrett – the former British Columbia premier is infamous for his tax-and-spend policies as premier, and it led to the collapse of his government. A ferocious legislator, Barrett's government passed a law every three days during his tenure, making him popular to the activist wing he represents.

Steven Langdon – the most overtly left-wing candidate, Langdon is seen by some in the caucus as too radical to keep the NDP growing at the federal level. He's quite popular among the party's base, however.

Simon De Jong – De Jong occupies very much the same ideological space as Barrett, so much so that there's rumors that if either win the leadership the other will become deputy. An Indonesian native, De Jong spent three years in a Japanese camp during World War II. He is considered by some to be the "Green" candidate.

Howard McCurdy – the civil rights activist is very much an outsider, and lost his seat in the 1988 election.

Two days to vote, then we move to a second ballot with the top two from the first round if no one wins a majority.

[Lumine]

Nice, I hope this TL proves successful! I'll wait until reading a bit more on the candidates before casting a vote.

[MAINEiac4434]

Nice, I hope this TL proves successful! I'll wait until reading a bit more on the candidates before casting a vote.

Thanks Lumine! The problem with Canadian politicians is there's not a ton of readily available information online.

[MAINEiac4434]

Less than two hours left.

[Zioneer]

I went for Simon De Jong, but it looks like he's going nowhere.

[MAINEiac4434]

I went for Simon De Jong, but it looks like he's going nowhere.

Indeed.

Barrett and Langdon move on to the second ballot.