Tears, cheers show uniting warring factions of Manitoba NDP no easy task

For the two warring factions within Manitoba’s NDP, Sunday’s result was deeply personal. 

There were high fives and hugs among those sporting Greg Selinger garb. Party delegates handed them vindication, as Selinger clung to power. 

"Clung" is the operative word. 

After four months of political turmoil a Hollywood script-writer would be hard pressed to pen, the decision of who would lead Manitoba’s governing NDP came down to 33 votes. 

• Manitoba NDP leadership: Greg Selinger re-elected, remains premier

While their would-be premier held it together with a believable smile and strong words of support for newly-confirmed Premier Selinger, Theresa Oswald’s supporters were more transparent. 

Becky Barrett hurried out of the convention with eyes puffy from crying. She was the party executive member who first went public to call on Selinger to consider his future. 

Her tears were obvious, but they certainly weren’t in isolation. 

An irate Theresa Oswald supporter, oscillating between tears and rage, told me afterwards it would have been better if it was 200 votes that separated the two candidates. Certainly after months of campaigning around the clock, 33 votes adds extra venom to an already poisonous sting. 

During the months-long separation, Selinger was supported by the majority of caucus members, elected officials and labour unions. 

Oswald, on the other hand, swept up the vast majority of the people who pull the strings behind the scenes at the Manitoba Legislature for the NDP. 

The list of Oswald’s war chest in this leadership race plays as a who’s-who of NDP operatives. These were also the people who appeared the most disheartened by Sunday’s outcome. 

Even if not publicly, hard feelings will linger into the days ahead, but this group represents the greatest challenge for Selinger going forward. 

He’s won the support of the majority of delegates, but if the NDP has any hope of winning in the 2016 general election, he has to win back the support of the people who will be critical to making it happen. 

209 ditched the second vote

Steve Ashton was unable to convince delegates he was the only candidate who could unite the party heading forward and was knocked off after the first ballot. 

His collapse on the first ballot was a surprise — especially because he performed so well at the constituency delegate selection meetings.

And in an interesting turn of events, with Ashton out of the race, 209 of his supporters dropped out also.  

In the first ballot, 1,699 delegates cast ballots. In the second ballot, only 1,490 cast ballots. When a party official read the latter number out loud there were some audible gasps in the room. 

That’s important because it means some were so disengaged with Oswald and Selinger, they decided not to participate. 

Moving forward Selinger will have to figure out how to win them back. 

Rebel power back into the fold

When Theresa Oswald, Jennifer Howard, Stan Struthers, Erin Selby and Andrew Swan quit Selinger’s cabinet, he lost some of the most talented members of the NDP. 

Since the rebellion, these MLAs were barred from caucus meetings and banned from decision-making processes. 

Before he hopes to win electoral success, he will need to make sure they are full members of the NDP caucus. Perhaps even cabinet ministers again.

Now that their rebellion has ultimately failed, will they be willing to re-enter Selinger’s cabinet? Will he want to take them? 

Shortly after learning she’d lost, Theresa Oswald left the door to cabinet open again.

“It’s up to the big guy,” she said, referring to Selinger. 

That remains just one of many big decisions facing Selinger in the months ahead.