Thomas Mulcair Biography

Thomas Joseph Mulcair PC MP (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada from 2012 to 2017. A Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Outremont in Quebec since 2007, he was selected as the leader of the NDP at a leadership election on March 24, 2012, on the fourth ballot. He then served as Leader of the Official Opposition until the NDP lost just over half of its seats in the 2015 federal election and resumed third-place status. At a leadership review vote held at the 2016 federal NDP convention, 52% of the delegates voted to hold a leadership election. Mulcair stated he would remain leader until the party chooses a replacement. Convention delegates, in an emergency motion, voted to give the party up to two years to choose a new head. Mulcair later announced in May 2016 that he would retire from politics, and would not contest his riding in the next federal election.