Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance

Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance
Defunct provincial party
LeaderGraydon Pelley
PresidentRudy Norman
FoundedApril 12, 2019
DissolvedMarch 30, 2023
Split fromNewfoundland and Labrador PC Party
IdeologyPopulism[1]
ColoursRed, Blue, and Yellow

The Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance[2] (NL Alliance) was a political party in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The party was created by former PC Party president Graydon Pelley in November 2018, following a split over the direction of the party.[3] It was registered with Elections Newfoundland and Labrador in April 2019.[4] In the 2019 and 2021 provincial elections the party failed to win any seats in the legislature.[5][6][7] Pelley resigned from the party in 2023.[8] The party was de-registered on March 30, 2023.

History and principles

[edit]

In November 2018, Graydon Pelley, then-president of the PC Party, resigned from the party, citing a lack of "real change that people want" among the new leadership. Pelley had run for the PCs in the Humber-Gros Morne district in the 2015 election, coming in a distant second to Premier Dwight Ball.

Pelley stated the NL Alliance's principles were focused on fixing a "broken" political system, offering five points to fix what he sees as ills. They include:[9]

The NL Alliance held its first town hall meeting in January 2019 in the provincial capital of St. John's, with roughly 20 people in attendance, including Independent MHA Paul Lane. At the meeting, party founder Pelley laid out his basic premise for starting the party, claiming that status quo politics in the province wasn't working for residents.[10]

While Lane decided against joining the party and media gave little further attention, Pelley continued forward with his project, eventually gaining the necessary signatures to register the NL Alliance in time for the 2019 general election.[11] During the election, Pelley was included in the Federation of Labour leaders debate and the NLTA candidates forum, but was excluded from other debates.[12][13][14][15][16] Pelley personally contested the district of Mount Scio but finished a distant fourth.[17] In 2020, Pelley contested the by-election in his home district of Humber-Gros Morne; he finished a distant third.[18][19]

In the 2021 provincial election, the NL Alliance nominated six candidates.[20] Party leader Graydon Pelley withdrew his nomination in Humber-Gros Morne following a medical emergency.[21] After suspending his personal campaign, his candidacy did not appear on the ballot in the constituency.[22] The party failed to win any seats in the election.[23]

In February 2023, Pelley and party president Rudy Norman both announced their departure from the party that they had established. In an interview with CBC News, Pelley remarked that it was difficult to promote election reform within a rigid provincial party system. The party remained registered with Elections NL, and Pelley expressed a hope that somebody would volunteer to maintain it.[8] However, the party was de-registered on March 30, 2023.[24]

Electoral history

[edit]
Election results
Election year No. of
overall votes 		% of
overall total 		No. of
candidates who ran 		No. of
seats won 		+/− Government
2019 5,086 2.39
9 / 40
0 / 40
 Steady No seats
2021 557 0.31
5 / 40
0 / 40
 Steady No seats
Humber-Gros Morne - By-election, 6 October 2020
Resignation of Dwight Ball
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Andrew Furey 3,401 63.95 -5.99
Progressive Conservative Mike Goosney[25] 1,332 25.05 -5.01
NL Alliance Graydon Pelley[26][27] 464 8.73 +8.73
New Democratic Graham Downey-Sutton[28] 121 2.28 +2.28
Total valid votes 5,318
Liberal hold Swing -0.49

References

[edit]
  1. ^ The Telegram (January 8, 2019). "Time for Newfoundland and Labrador to part with party lines?". Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  2. ^ Maher, David (12 March 2019). "Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance awaiting confirmation of official party status". The Telegram. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  3. ^ CBC News (November 14, 2018). "Graydon Pelley walks away from PCs to start new political group". Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  4. ^ VOCM (April 12, 2019). "NL Alliance Registers as Official Political Party". Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  5. ^ Sweet, Barb (May 16, 2019). "NL VOTES: Newfoundland and Labrador Alliance happy with inaugural effort, candidates say". Saltwire Network. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  6. ^ "No seats for upstart N.L. Alliance". NTV.ca. Newfoundland Broadcasting Corporation. May 17, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "Here are all the MHAs elected in the Newfoundland and Labrador election". CBC News. March 27, 2021.
  8. ^ a b Kennedy, Alex (14 February 2023). "Graydon Pelley resigns as leader of N.L. Alliance". CBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. ^ The Telegram (January 6, 2019). "EDITORIAL: Mammoth task". Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  10. ^ VOCM (January 6, 2019). "NL Alliance Holds First Town Hall Meeting in Capital City". Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  11. ^ "It's official: NL Alliance registered as 4th party heading into provincial election". CBC News. April 12, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  12. ^ "Here's what happened at the province's 1st election debate for 2019 campaign". CBC News. May 1, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  13. ^ "Decision To Leave NL Alliance Out Of Debate 'Disappointing' Says Leader". VOCM.com. Stingray Group Inc. May 1, 2019. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019.
  14. ^ "Graydon Pelley speaks out after being left out of leaders' debate". NTV.ca. Newfoundland Broadcasting Corporation. May 2, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  15. ^ "Replay: Newfoundland and Labrador leaders election debate". Saltwire Network. May 1, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  16. ^ Penney, Beth (May 14, 2019). "Two empty podiums at NLTA leaders forum on education". NTV.ca. Newfoundland Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  17. ^ Roberts, Terry (May 3, 2019). "A heated doorstep debate symbolizes what's at stake in Mount Scio". CBC News. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
  18. ^ NL Alliance [@alliance_nl] (10 August 2020). "***ANNOUNCEMENT*** The Provincial Executive is pleased to announce that Graydon Pelley (@gepelley) will represent NL Alliance in the District of Humber-Gros Morne in the next Provincial Election #nlpoli #workingtogetherforchange #jointheteam https://t.co/g1KtzKzjkH" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ Bradshaw, Don [@DonBradshawNTV] (9 September 2020). "It's official. Nfld and Labrador Alliance party leader Graydon Pelley says he will be a candidate in the upcoming by-election in Humber-Gros Morne; the seat vacated by former Premier Dwight Ball earlier this week. Pelley speaks exclusively with @NTVNewsNL tonight at 6 pm. @nlpoli https://t.co/ltDJG36eef" (Tweet). Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "OFFICIALLY NOMINATED CANDIDATES General Election 2021" (PDF). Elections NL. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  21. ^ Telegram, The. "NL Alliance Leader Graydon Pelley suspends campaign due to medical emergency | The Telegram". www.thetelegram.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  22. ^ "NL Alliance Leader Graydon Pelley ends election campaign, citing medical emergency". CBC News. 22 January 2021.
  23. ^ Mullin, Malone (March 27, 2021). "Liberals claim slim majority in Newfoundland and Labrador, as voters tap Furey to lead". CBC News. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  24. ^ "NL Alliance Deregisters With Elections NL". VOCM. 30 March 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  25. ^ Connors, Michael [@MikeConnors] (September 9, 2020). "Mike Goosney officially has the Tory nomination for the byelection in Humber-Gros Morne. #nlpoli" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
  26. ^ NL Alliance [@alliance_nl] (August 10, 2020). "***ANNOUNCEMENT*** The Provincial Executive is pleased to announce that Graydon Pelley (@gepelley) will represent NL Alliance in the District of Humber-Gros Morne in the next Provincial Election #nlpoli #workingtogetherforchange #jointheteam https://t.co/g1KtzKzjkH" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Bradshaw, Don [@DonBradshawNTV] (September 9, 2020). "It's official. Nfld and Labrador Alliance party leader Graydon Pelley says he will be a candidate in the upcoming by-election in Humber-Gros Morne; the seat vacated by former Premier Dwight Ball earlier this week. Pelley speaks exclusively with @NTVNewsNL tonight at 6 pm. @nlpoli https://t.co/ltDJG36eef" (Tweet). Retrieved December 31, 2020 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ Michael Connors [@MikeConnors] (14 September 2020). "Graham Downey-Sutton has been nominated as the NDP candidate for the Humber-Gros Morne byelection" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 September 2019 – via Twitter.
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