The new NDP constituency: Far more francophone, far less multicultural

When New Democrats more than doubled their historic best on election night, the constituency Jack Layton’s party represents was radically transformed. They broke through in Quebec and won 59 seats, more than any single party has taken in the province since Brian Mulroney in 1988 – before the birth of the Bloc Québécois. Accordingly, the NDP constituency has gone from being overwhelmingly English-speaking and more diverse than the national average to mostly French-speaking and less multicultural.

You can read the rest of the article on The Globe and Mail website. There is also a condensed version of the article in the print edition of the newspaper.


Like last week's analysis of the Liberal constituency, this one looks at the New Democrats and their ridings' average demographic profile. Like last week, here are a few extra factoids for the party:

Largest population: Nanaimo - Cowichan (125,000 in 2006)
Smallest population: Western Arctic (41,000)
Oldest median age: British Columbia Southern Interior (47.2 years)
Youngest median age: Churchill (26.4 years)
Highest median household income: Western Arctic ($80,000)
Lowest median household income: Winnipeg Centre ($32,000)
Ridings in which French is the largest language group: 59
Ridings in which neither English nor French is the largest language group: 8
Ridings in which immigrants are the majority: 4
Riding with the largest aboriginal population: Churchill (52,000)

Note that, despite having three times as many seats, the NDP hold as many seats where neither French nor English is the largest language group as the Liberals do. They also hold one fewer seat with an immigrant majority as the Liberals.

Next week, I'll be looking at the Conservatives.