NDP [ Leader: Carole James ]
By Duncan Speight | April 5, 2005

The NDP began as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in the early 1930s during the great depression.

In 1941 the provincial Liberals and Conservatives formed a coalition to prevent the popular and growing CCF from winning a government.

The coalition lasted a decade until it was unseated by W.A.C. Bennett's Social Credit Party in 1952.

The CCF became the NDP in 1961, scoring varying degrees of success against the Socreds during the two decades Bennett was in power.

In 1972, under leader Dave Barrett, the NDP finally defeated the Socreds. In its short time in office, the Barrett NDP government brought in a wide range of legislation, including the establishment of the Insurance Corporation of B.C. and the Agricultural Land Reserve.

But the government also made mistakes and enemies – and when Barrett called a snap election in 1975, just three years into the term, Social Credit was back – winning under the leadership of W.A.C. Bennett's son, Bill.

Barrett and Bill Bennett squared off again in 1979 and 1983, with Bennett and his Social Credit party winning both elections.

NDP leader Dave Barrett was replaced by Bob Skelly, who lost the 1986 election to Bill Vander Zalm.

Skelly was replaced as NDP leader a year later by former Vancouver mayor Mike Harcourt.

Four years later, Harcourt defeated the Socreds, then led by Rita Johnston – Canada's first woman premier – who had taken over the party following Vander Zalm's resignation.

Even though he wasn't implicated, Harcourt resigned in 1996 over the Bingogate scandal, which involved NDP officials taking money that was to have gone to charity and using it for the party.

Harcourt's replacement was his former finance minister, Glen Clark, who led the party to a come-from-behind victory over the Liberals in the 1996 election.

However, Clark was forced to resign in 1999 after it was learned that he was under police investigation over a constituent's application for a casino licence. He was later acquitted of all criminal charges.

He was succeeded by Deputy Premier Dan Miller, who held the job for six months until the party elected Ujjal Dosanjh its leader in February 2000.

Dosanjh, Canada's first Indo-Canadian premier, led the party into the May 2001 election, when it was reduced to just two seats in the 79-seat legislature.

Dosanjh resigned and was replaced by interim leader Joy MacPhail until the election of Carole James at a party convention in 2003.