“The NDP had two stellar political leaders in the region, but Leonard Krog went to become Mayor in Nanaimo and Sheila Malcolmson decided to go to Victoria.”

Netherton added the party didn’t have a succession plan in place for candidates and despite Bob Chamberlin stepping up and running a solid campaign, there was little the party could do.

Much of the credit, according to Netherton, goes to Manly himself for keeping Nanaimo green.

“It seems to me that Nanaimo is open to this kind of representation. The candidate is exceptional, but when I listen to Paul Manly I think to myself ‘is he with the Greens or NDP?. To me, he’d be at home in both parties.”

Federally the Greens securing of Manly’s seat, plus the gain of a third MP in New Brunswick, is a result of a weakened NDP following disappointing leadership from Thomas Mulcair, Netherton said.

“The party went into a bit of tailspin in terms of public support, but Jagmeet Singh’s performance in this election turned the tide,” Netherton said. “They called it the orange wave…but it’s just actually backwash. They’re a party that had almost 100 seats four or five years ago.”

The NDP were able to hold onto most of the seats on Vancouver Island, with Gord Johns (Courtenay-Alberni) and Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River) cruising to victories.

Netherton said the experience will serve the region well, even with a lack of direct influence on government.

“They’re people who are seasoned politicians, they bring a lot of experience. We have a little bit of new blood in there but it seems for the next little while, these people are defining us.”

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley