Speculation and announcements John Horgan had been leader since the party's
2014 leadership election and led the party through two provincial elections. Under his leadership, the NDP formed a
minority government with the support of the
Green Party at the
2017 election, the first time they had formed government since the
1996 election. He subsequently won a
majority government in the
2020 election. On June 28, 2022, Horgan announced that he would be stepping down as premier, citing concerns regarding his health; he had recently recovered from cancer. Horgan had recently faced criticism for pushing forward a plan to redevelop the
Royal BC Museum for $789 million, which had been reversed. Following Horgan's announcement, political commentators suggested that several cabinet ministers might be considering running for the leadership:
David Eby,
Ravi Kahlon,
Selina Robinson,
Katrina Chen,
Nathan Cullen,
Adrian Dix,
Rob Fleming,
Bowinn Ma,
Josie Osborne and
Jennifer Whiteside. Kahlon's endorsement came as a surprise, as he and Eby had been seen as likely frontrunners; pundits suggested that the race was essentially over before it even started. On July 13, it was reported that Robinson was considering a run, Chen, Dix, Fleming, Ma, Osborne and Whiteside all endorsed Eby, while Cullen also ruled himself out. Eby formally announced his candidacy on July 19. Eby had turned down invitations to run for party leadership in 2014, instead serving as campaign manager for John Horgan's run. and as a "status-quo" candidate, and a focus on remedying the homelessness crisis in larger cities such as Vancouver. Eby proposed a tax on
house flipping, a law on preventing
stratas from excluding young families, and earmarking $500,000 in grants for non-profit organizations to purchase rental buildings and preventing housing displacement. On a campaign stop in the Sunshine Coast, Eby claimed he would "dramatically [increase] the availability of both housing and healthcare workers" to address both affordability and healthcare concerns. Appadurai announced her candidacy after she and others expressed concerns that the race would be a "no-questions-asked coronation", stating that it was "not good for democracy". Appadurai ran as a
democratic socialist, reframing how the provincial executive approaches decision making away from industry, along with proposing a transition that put workers first. Several anonymous MLAs speaking to
Global News expressed their frustrations with Appadurai, who they described as an "interloper" with "no role in [the NDP's] success". On August 23, it was reported by the
Vancouver Sun that Eby expressed his "frustration" with Appadurai's entry into the race. If Eby was acclaimed, the race would potentially end on October 3, but the results would be released on December 3 with her entry. It was alleged by the
Vancouver Sun and by Appadurai's supporters that, by the end of the September 4 deadline for membership signups, the Appadurai campaign had signed up 10,000 new members to Eby's 6,000 new members. No formal complaint was registered with Elections BC, and the agency issued no ruling on whether any violation occurred. The party also reviewed whether
Green Party members participated in the campaign, which is prohibited by both parties' constitutions. The investigation centred on whether
Dogwood BC, a non-profit group that aims to increase the power of British Columbians over government decision-making, improperly contributed to Appadurai's campaign; the organization was accused of donating to Appadurai's campaign as well as using its resources in order to aid her campaign to sign up new members. Another issue under investigation were emails sent in support of Appadurai by a supporter and released by
Jas Johal that told Green Party members to quit the party so that they could vote for Appadurai, and in the case that she lost, they could rejoin the Greens. The Greens cited the party's privacy policy. The NDP released a statement expressing concerns that the Greens were "attempting a hostile takeover" of their party during its leadership election, reflecting poorly on the Greens and putting its registered party status at risk. On October 19, a leaked report written by the NDP's chief electoral officer
Elizabeth Cull concluded that the Appadurai campaign had improperly coordinated with third parties to sign up new members to the party. The report stated "no other remedy can adequately address the failings and breaches of the Appadurai Campaign" and recommended that her candidacy be disqualified. The conclusion was made on the grounds that individuals joined the party "fraudulently" and that the campaign violated the
Election Act limits on campaign spending. The report stated that, due to the participation of third parties in the campaign, it was "impossible to create a level playing field at this point, and impossible to restore the Leadership Election Campaign to a state of integrity in which [Cull] could have confidence". Cull described the NDP membership list as being "tainted by fraudulent signups"; a spot check revealed 25.3 percent of new members were ineligible due to their prior support of or membership in another party, and another 2.5 percent of members were ineligible because of unpaid membership fees.
Leah Gazan,
Matthew Green,
Lori Idlout, and
Bonita Zarrillo. Former NDP MLAs
Joan Sawicki, and
Tom Perry expressed their desire for the race to continue. and former MPP
Cheri DiNovo expressed their support for Appadurai's continued candidacy in the race. On the evening of October 19, the NDP provincial executive voted to disqualify Appadurai's candidacy. In a press conference on October 20, Appadurai stated that she would stay in the NDP despite her disqualification and implored supporters to "fight from the inside" in order to "reshape" the party. Eby was officially declared leader on October 21. == Candidates ==