Update – NDP choose leader today

The first ballot has been counted at the NDP convention in Toronto to choose the party’s next leader.

Thomas Mulcair leads the group with 30 per cent of the vote. Brian Topp is second with 21 per cent, and Nathan Cullen third with 16 per cent.

It has been speculated that the race for party leader is between Mulcair and Topp. Four candidates remain for the second ballot: Mulcair, Topp, Cullen and Peggy Nash.

At the cut off time for eligibility there were 131, 152 members of the federal NDP. In advance voting nearly half of those eligible had cast a ballot. The race continues until a candidate receives 50 per cent plus one of the votes, with candidates being eliminated at each stage.

The new leader of the NDP will navigate the party in the House of Commons, and will take over the legacy left by former leader Jack Layton. He handed over power to Turmel last summer to take a temporary leave of absence for health reasons. Layton succumbed to cancer in August.

Al Sweeney will have all the details from the convention centre tonight at 6 and 11 on CHCH News.