When Saskatchewan plunged into an election, the legislative assembly was comprised mainly of Saskatchewan Party MLAs but there will be a much higher number of NDP members entering the building when the government begins a new session.
Monday’s election saw the NDP see its biggest gains in the province in more than 15 years.
The counting is still ongoing and the numbers could change, but so far 18 are elected with nine leading in their ridings.
“At the end of the day people when I talked to them on the doorstep they wanted change, I think that folks are resonating with Carla Beck’s message that we can bring change to this province,” Nathaniel Teed, the re-elected NDP MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin, told Global News.
The last time the party saw more than 20 MLAs was in 2007, when it lost power to the Saskatchewan Party and was reduced to just 20 seats. Since then, it’s seen its party lose seats falling to nine in 2011 and only reaching 13 in the last election in 2020, though before dissolution this year had seen one additional MLA elected.
Much of its groundswell of support came from the province’s big cities with Regina and Saskatoon appearing to go completely orange, though a few remain uncalled.
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“The people have told us they’re ready for change and what we’re seeing in these results here tonight are showing us just exactly that,” Erika Ritchie, the re-elected MLA for Saskatoon Nutana, told Global News.
Those city wins also led to some defeats for the Saskatchewan Party, with at least three cabinet ministers losing their seats with two others trailing the NDP as of this story’s publication.
While there was celebrations among the NDP for making major breakthroughs in the big cities, political analyst Ken Coates cautioned it was a sign the party, as well as the Saskatchewan Party, still needs some work.
“Neither party has been very successful in breaking out of their base, but the NDP has done a fabulous job of getting into Saskatoon and Regina,” Coates said.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
