The New NDP

In a climate of growing challenges to democratic integrity, understanding ourelectoral system is particularly important. This book’s strengths enhance public comprehension, and its gaps open pathways for further investigation. Lori Williams, Alberta Views

[The author], an NDP insider, describes the party’s slow but steady climb back under Jack Layton and Tom Mulcair until, after 2011, it was the Official Opposition and a government in waiting. Then in 2015, everything fell apart. The book is like a forensic accountant’s analysis of a startup’s path from concept to riches to bankruptcy. Crawford Kilian, The Tyee

A new book about the New Democratic party offers exceptional insights into the party’s evolution from an undisciplined ideological group to a political marketing powerhouse. Current leader Jagmeet Singh and his strategists should pick up a copy, and quick.

The New NDP: Moderation, Modernization, and Political Marketing is a rare inside look at how a Canadian political party expands and retracts. It is a thorough examination of how the NDP operated under leader Alexa McDonough and transformed

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Ultimately the reader-friendly manner in which he presents an astounding array of data should make The New NDP required reading for NDP strategists. Judging by public opinion polls, it would be in their best interest to consult it sooner rather than later. Alex Marland, The Hill Times

McGrane’s dogged research and sincere devotion to this subject allows his work to fill an important void regarding the recent political history of Canada’s party of social democracy. Chuck Deshaies, American Review of Canadian Studies

In The New NDP, David McGrane weaves a highly engaging and convincing narrative of the party’s trajectory from third party status, to official opposition and then dashed hopes of forming government in 2015. Although the study offers important new insights to the literature on the NDP, its empirical richness and methodological rigour make it an authoritative account of how modern campaigns are conducted in Canada more generally. The study’s methodological rigour, including the combination of theory with a mixed methods approach that draws upon a remarkable range of original data, establishes a high standard for future research in this field. Prize Jury, 2020 Donald Smiley Prize

McGrane offers a master class on how the New Democratic Party of Canada was transformed into a modern contender for federal office. It is an entertaining and comprehensive examination of the Jack Layton era that saw the NDP change the way politics is practised in this country and how Canadians responded. A must-read for everyone who wants to know how politics truly works. Brad Lavigne, long-time adviser to Jack Layton, 2011 NDP campaign director, and author of Building the Orange Wave

McGrane marshals a staggering diversity of original data to craft his expansive account of Canada’s New Democratic Party. The New NDP is an impressive work, both measured in its claims and highly readable and enjoyable. Royce Koop, associate professor and head of the Department of Political Studies, University of Manitoba

McGrane has authored the definitive work on the recent evolution of the NDP. Combining an insider’s perspective with a political scientist’s precision, it rebuilds the foundation of our understanding of modern social democracy in Canada. Jared Wesley, associate professor of Political Science, University of Alberta