Not for Attribution podcast episode 5: Provincial election post-mortem (and federal lookahead)

In the fifth episode of our political podcast, Free Press columnists Dan Lett, Tom Brodbeck and Niigaan Sinclair, along with legislative reporter Jessica Botelho-Urbanski, unpack the highs and lows of the provincial election campaign. Then, they prepare for six more weeks of election coverage, pivoting to discuss the federal race.

Liberals ponder future without official party status

Two days after the provincial election results poured in, Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont is taking stock of his office that may be soon boxed away.

He has several prints hung on the walls, including a Norval Morriseau painting and a graphic collage of Canadiana by Aaron Draplin. There's a portrait of his grandfather and former MLA, John S. Lamont, painted by his grandmother, and a newer acquisition he's not quite as fond of -- a Steven Fletcher bobblehead, which Fletcher asked his mother to give to Lamont when she packed up Fletcher's office a few doors down the hall this summer.

The Liberals lost official party status on Tuesday night, falling from four to three seats. It means a leaner budget, fewer staff and, possibly, less office space. The government clerk hasn't yet told the Liberals whether or where they will move.

“I may be back in a washer or broom closet again, but c’est la vie," Lamont said.

Kinew leadership to ‘begin fresh’ with 11 new MLAs

If NDP Leader Wab Kinew sounded like he was doing a victory lap Tuesday night — after his party suffered a resounding defeat — it may be because of all the new faces that will join him on the Opposition benches in the legislature.

The 42nd Manitoba general election produced 13 first-time MLAs — 11 of them are New Democrats, an astonishing number for a party that got thumped at the polls.

Once the new MLAs are sworn in, the NDP caucus will have 18 members in the 57-seat legislature — four more than it had following the 2016 election, and six more than it had when the 2019 election was called.

Kelly Saunders, a Brandon University political scientist, said Kinew's enthusiasm Tuesday seemed genuine, and not just a politician putting on a brave face. She said the new blood on the NDP team gives Kinew's leadership new life.

Despite election defeat, NDP does victory lap

The New Democratic Party didn’t pull off an election win Tuesday night, but it pulled itself up from a crushing defeat three years ago to win back at least six seats in Winnipeg and the north, including taking down a cabinet minister — and to cement the leadership of Wab Kinew.

Kinew said he felt "proud" and "enthused" after his party formed the Official Opposition again after winning at least 17 seats by press time. An NDP source said the party had hoped to win 17.

New Democrat Jamie Moses defeated PC cabinet minister Colleen Mayer in St. Vital. Moses is one of the province's first black MLAs. Uzoma Asagwara, the NDP candidate in Union Station, is the first black and queer MLA elected in Manitoba's history.

Party headquarters, the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre, was packed as Kinew made his concession speech, which sounded more like a victory speech. Afterward, he strolled into the crowd of supporters, who wanted selfies taken with their leader, to the tune of Curtis Mayfield's Move On Up.

Liberals drop all-important fourth seat, lose official status

Just over a year after being elected in a byelection that gave Manitoba’s Liberals four seats and official party status in the legislature, leader Dougald Lamont and the party are back on the outside, looking in.

Lamont held onto his St. Boniface seat Tuesday night, joining only longtime River Heights MLA Jon Gerrard and Cindy Lamoureux in the redrawn Tyndall Park at the legislature.

The party suffered a fatal blow in the massive eastern Manitoba riding of Keewatinook, where NDP candidate Ian Bushie obliterated Jason Harper with nearly 80 per cent of the vote.

Former Liberal MLA Judy Klassen set the stage for the crippling turn of events when she announced in April she'd be leaving provincial politics to run under the Liberal banner in next month's federal election. Klassen won the riding in 2016, beating former NDP cabinet minister and longtime MLA Eric Robinson.

Greens’ best shot falls short

Aiming for a historic victory to vault its first MLA into a seat in Manitoba's legislature, Green hopes were dashed Tuesday, as the party's grasp on Winnipeg's granola belt slipped away.

Wolseley has been an NDP stronghold for 29 years — and first-time candidate Lisa Naylor continued the run with a win over Green runner-up David Nickarz. Naylor had 2,944 votes and Nickarz had 2,258, with 36 of 43 polls reporting.

Nickarz's candidacy had been widely considered the Green Party of Manitoba's best chance at winning a seat in 2019, after he came close in 2016.

“This is a great stepping stone for this election and elections across Canada,” Nickarz said, conceding just before 10 p.m. and offering his congratulations to Naylor on her win.