VICTORIA - B.C. NDP MLA John Horgan won his party's leadership Thursday, after no other candidates came forward to challenge him before the entry deadline.

Horgan was acclaimed party leader after a 5 p.m. cutoff for entries into the leadership race.

The 54-year-old MLA for Juan de Fuca is expected to take over from Adrian Dix next week on the Opposition benches at the legislature. He's scheduled to appear at a media event in Vancouver on Sunday.

Dix announced he was stepping down as leader after the party failed to win the 2013 provincial election.

Horgan had briefly competed with Port Coquitlam MLA Mike Farnworth for the party leadership earlier this year, before Farnworth abandoned his campaign in April to endorse Horgan.

Horgan becomes the 16th NDP leader, dating back to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in the 1930s.

He was first elected in 2005, but had served as a senior staffer to three NDP premiers in the 1990s.

rshaw@vancouversun.com